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| Ohio Prison Officials Asking for End to 'Roll-call Pay' |
| By Columbus Dispatch |
| Published: 11/26/2001 |
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Could 30 minutes a day save two Ohio prisons? Top brass at the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction think so. Prison officials calculate that ending 'roll-call pay'' for corrections officers would save $21 million a year, enough to prevent the planned closure of two prisons because of budget cuts. But the union representing prison workers says there's no way it will give up a benefit that corrections officers have had for 15 years. Roll-call pay is a contractual arrangement, in place since 1986, between the state and the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association. Corrections officers are paid 30 minutes of overtime each day if they show up 10 minutes before their work shift begins, although the extra pay is awarded even if the employees merely show up on time in most cases. During roll-call meetings, officers are briefed on assignments, incidents in the prison and other information before reporting to their posts. Roll-call pay was added in lieu of hazardous-duty pay during contract negotiations with former Gov. Richard F. Celeste's administration. The extra 30 minutes might sound insignificant, but it adds up to 2 1/2 hours of overtime weekly, calculated at 1 1/2 times the regular pay rate. That means the average officer earning $30,888 in base pay gets $55.69 weekly, or $2,896 a year, in roll-call pay before taxes. The state had 7,767 corrections officers on the payroll as of last week. That number is likely to drop given plans by state prisons chief Reginald A. Wilkinson to close two or more prisons because of budget cuts ordered by Gov. Bob Taft. In a last-ditch effort to prevent the closings, Wilkinson last week asked the union to consider giving up roll-call pay, which would save the state $9.9 million from January to July 2002. As an alternative, the prison director suggested they forgo 20 minutes of pay to save $6.6 million during the same period. Union officials rejected both proposals. Union spokesman Peter Wray said the state has better ways to save money than taking away contractual benefits. 'There is absolutely no interest among our members in giving up roll-call pay, or any of the fringe benefits we negotiated.'' The state has to pay employees for showing up early for roll call, Wray said. |
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