Times Herald — The third union drive in the past three years succeeded at the Montgomery County Prison Dec. 16 when corrections officers voted to bring in Teamsters Local 384 to represent them.
“On 12/16/13 the teamsters union won the vote fair and square, but that’s only half the battle,” a corrections officer who spoke to The Times Herald for a previous article on condition of anonymity wrote in an e-mail. “Now we’re going to have to sit and wait for them to negotiate a contract before we see any kind of raise. Only time will tell if this union will be beneficial for us. I’m glad everything is over with. I think some of the tension between staff was relieved even though not everyone is satisfied with the outcome. I personally feel that some of those that did vote union will see later on it’s not the better choice.”
In several media reports regarding the latest unionization drive, anonymous sources made claims that pay and benefits were being cut. There were even claims that officers would use the trash cans at the end of the halls of the prison to relieve themselves.
Now that the officers have voted to bring in the union, however, they are excluded from the 1.5 percent pay raise given to non-union county employees under the 2014 county budget approved this week by the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. The officers will also be ineligible for the 1.5 percent merit bonus that will be offered to non-union employees.
The corrections officers are currently without a contract, and a timetable for the negotiations has been set. continue reading...
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