You didn't have to be Cassandra to see
this one coming.
An officer shortage is so acute at one Wisconsin prison that the state is paying for mileage and hotels for guards from other institutions so they can help cover shifts.
And what caused this shortage?
Officers contend the problems at Columbia are emblematic of staff shortages that have plagued institutions across the state in recent years. They argue the state can't retain officers because of the pay — the starting wage is $15.20 an hour — and the loss of collective bargaining power under the 2011 law known as Act 10.
(bolding is mine)
It wasn't just the loss of their unions, the loss of health and safety provisions in their contracts, or the loss of any voice in the workplace. Corrections officers, like public employees everywhere in the state, lost 18% of their pay in deductions for their benefits; benefits that they wanted to keep so much that they, like other public employees, had been systematically giving up wage increases for years.
While exempting police, sheriffs, and firefighters (whose unions had endorsed Walker for Governor) from the brutality of Walkers union busting and wage-draining Act 10 due to "public safety" concerns, Walker didn't exempt correctional staff or prison guards whose unions endorsed Walkers opponent.
As a result, many guards who were eligible to retire did so to avoid the 18% deduction from their paychecks or to work in unsafe conditions because the union contract and safety measures which had been negotiated no longer existed.
Others left and found jobs elsewhere. The number of guards dramatically decreased creating staffing shortages which have been filled by officers working longer shifts and overtime (much of that being mandatory overtime where they are forced to stay on the job or called in from home).
"I myself have been getting ordered for extra duty more than the double cheeseburger on the extra value menu at McDonald's," Redgranite officer Paul Mertz said by email.
And now those shortages have become so acute at one facility that the state is now paying mileage and 6 weeks or months of hotel costs for guards that agree to work there on a temporary basis.
Those temporary assignments will also exacerbate the staffing shortages at the prisons that the guards normally work.
While the shortage is acute at Columbia, it's a huge statewide problem.
As of April, more than 8% of officer and sergeant positions were unfilled, according to the department. That's four times the rate in April 2010.
(bolding is mine)
Why is April 2010 important? It's before when Act 10 was signed into law less than a year later and is the last numbers until Walker took office. Since then we have FOUR TIMES the number of prison guard vacancies.
What's even worse is that the pay of public workers hasn't really increased - another effect of Act 10 which prohibits pay increases beyond a level that the state sets each year. While Walker has increased the pay of his political appointees by 35% or so, he has held up even the 1% pay increases due to state workers as long as he can.
Daniel Meehan, a sergeant at Waupun Correctional Institution who is retiring this week, said in 34 years at the Department of Corrections he had never seen so much turnover. He attributed the problem to Act 10.
"It used to be a career," he said. "Now it's a throwaway job. They're quitting as quick as they can hire them."
Yup. Crappy job, lousy pay, forced overtime, persistent short staffing, unaddressed safety concerns, next to nothing in pay increases, and continually demeaned by the Governor and Legislative leaders - yes, these jobs have it all! Small wonder the jobs are vacant.
It's the Walker economy brought to you by the Koch Brothers.
And this guy is running around the country running for President and patting himself on the back for all his "accomplishments" in Wisconsin. What a schmuck.
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