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| Prison guards say pay raise not as much as promised |
| By statesman.com/ |
| Published: 08/29/2009 |
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Four months ago, with the state budget feeling the pinch of a diving economy, Texas' 24,000 correctional officers cheered the news that the Legislature had given them a 3.5 percent pay raise, effective this fall. By Friday, that thrill was fading: Prison officials acknowledged correctional officers will get slightly less — 3.35 percent — while their bosses will get more — for some, raises of more than 8 percent. The difference in the size of the raises for correctional officers amounts to about $51 a year in most cases. But to some of Texas' prison employees, who are among the lowest paid in the United States, the change represents a broken promise — in a system where such things can sometimes turn into nettlesome problems for administrators. Dozens of correctional officers are reportedly filing grievances on the issue. "You talk about a morale buster — this is it," said Brian Olsen, executive director of a Huntsville union that represents about 5,000 correctional officers in Texas. "It's crazy to me that they'd take any percentage away from the officers, the lowest paid, so they can pay the supervisors more." Jerry McGinty, chief financial officer for the state Department of Criminal Justice, said the Legislature, not agency officials, set the raise amounts for both correctional staff members and supervisors. He said the raise for officers will be close to the 7 percent expected over two years. "The problem may have been how it was communicated ... but the total works out to be about the same," he said. At least one legislative leader said officers have a point. "For crying out loud, this was never the intent of the Legislature," said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jim McReynolds, D-Lufkin. "We said we wanted a 3.5 percent increase for each year, and that's what we meant ... To have supervisors getting a lot more like this was never on our radar screen." According to prison officials, pay increases for correctional officers will increase 3.35 percent during the next year while sergeants will get 4.9 percent more, lieutenants will get 6.5 percent more and captains and majors 8.1 percent each. Read More. |
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