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| CA Corrections Officers unable to take off furlough days |
| By Carol Ferguson, Eyewitness News Bakersfield Now |
| Published: 03/17/2009 |
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Thousands of folks in Kern County are getting a 10 percent pay cut because they're workers at state prisons and they're forced to take two unpaid furlough days off a month. [Corrections Officers], however, aren't actually able to take their unpaid days off because of safety concerns. Kern County has four large prisons with a total workforce of nearly 7,000. All state prison workers must take the unpaid days, but correctional officers say it's even worse for them. "We get two days without pay, but we've got to work two days," said Paul Soto, a correctional officer at the prison in Tehachapi. "So that's basically working two days for free for us, due to the coverage necessary for safety factors." Soto is also the president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association chapter at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. He says the governor's plan to save money with furloughs of prison workers makes no sense. There aren't enough officers to cover the needed shifts, if the officers take the days off, they say. Working at North Kern Prison, correctional officer Isaac Lopez sees the same scenario. Officers have to lose the money for the furlough days, but they can't actually take them off. "You're supposed to take them, but yet you're not going to be able to take them because there's not enough officers' coverage to cover your days off," Lopez said. "Basically, it comes down to you're working two days for free a month." Lopez says losing two days pay a month ends up being a salary cut of about 10 percent, and that's hard on officers' families. "You're looking at anywhere between $400 and $600 that's coming out of somebody's salary every month," Lopez said. "And if you're the sole bread-winner of that family, that's a big hit." Steve Durham is also a correctional officer in Tehachapi, and so is his wife. The furlough days mean a big challenge for their family budget. "We don't go out to eat, we can't take the kids out to do anything fun (and) we have to tighten our belts," Durham said. Officers in Tehachapi say all the families cutting back on spending will hurt businesses in that community. Ted Kitzmiller with Radio Shack in Tehachapi said he's already seeing impacts. "I've already cut back my employees and I've also cut down on my stock that I get in because of that," Kitzmiller said. "I mean, our main thing here is the prison." The union chapter president in Tehachapi estimates 30 percent of the prison staff live in Tehachapi and about 70 percent live in Bakersfield. The furlough days are supposed to run from February through June 2010. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Seth Unger said officers will have two years after the furlough program ends to use up their "banked" furlough days. Unger said officers will have to burn up those days before they use other types of time off. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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