DOC Recruitment and Retention Pay Update - Oct. 7

Michelle Woodrow | October 07, 2015

I wanted to update you on the status of our grievance over the decision by the Department of Corrections to eliminate recruitment and retention pay for certain job classifications at CRCC, WSP, and MCC.

On August 3, Sgt. Cory Laughlin of MCC, Shop Steward Sgt. Michael Boe of MCC, and I met with DOC Deputy Secretary Dan Pacholke to discuss the issue. As reported previously, we were unable to reach an agreement with the Department at that meeting.

The next step in the process is a pre-arbitration review meeting with the Department as per the contract. We are in the process of scheduling that meeting. We anticipate that the pre-arbitration meeting will be held in the next several weeks and that we will likely file for arbitration in November.

This is an incredibly important issue and we are doing everything we can to expedite the process. Even so, an arbitration of this magnitude will take time, most likely several months or longer.

Our legal team is working on the case and wants to be absolutely sure that we have all of the evidence we need to argue the case successfully. Thank you for your patience. As soon as we have any new information, we will let you know.

feature,
DOC

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Ryan Andelian commented on DOC recruitment and retention Pay Update - Oct. 7 2015-11-01 09:04:36 -0800

Hi Gary,

Paul Zilly (a communications / pr guy) responded to my email(s) thanking me, telling me he will get the legal team to review my claim. No other contact. Please talk with others, have them examine their July 25th checks and review award language. Contact shop stewards / biz agents… so issue isn’t somehow overlooked. Only members that understand my claim, will ask the teamsters to account for the outcome. If that fails to produce fruit, maybe there are grounds for a class action lawsuit?
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Ryan Andelian commented on DOC recruitment and retention Pay Update - Oct. 7 2015-10-28 16:33:25 -0700

Please see that the legal team reviews my complaint and assertion. I received recruiting & retention pay on July 25th. It is therefore owed to the entire job class, for the life of the agreement.

The following is a verbatim quote from page 26 of the award.

GROUP C (includes officers 1, 2 & 3)

“The Department of Corrections may, at its discretion, apply premiums, not to exceed the indicated limit, in order to address problems of recruitment and retention. A premium shown to be applicable to an entire class must be applied to that class uniformly. “At its discretion” means that the only permissible grievance of such a decision is limited to whether or not the decision in question was arbitrary and capricious or violated the express terms of this provision. Once applied, a premium may not be reduced for the life of this Agreement.”
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Ryan Andelian commented on DOC recruitment and retention Pay Update - Oct. 7 2015-10-28 00:11:00 -0700

Please re-post the arbitrators award, and review the language on this issue. State is obligated to continue recruiting / retention pay, for the whole job class, and for the duration of the contract. (if the incentive pay continued, or resumed for any part of the job class) I for one, continued to receive this pay on my July 25th check… So, it’s owed to every officer. For 24 months. Please review your own pay statements, and read the award… I may not be Judge Judy, but that’s my recollection of the language.