Contract Negotiations Underway for Custody Assistants and Unit 621

By the time this is published, we (Unit 621 negotiating team) should have had our initial meeting with the county for our new salary contract. Items such as fair pay, education, service time, station jailers, staffing, career path and all the things that you have expressed have been addressed by your bargaining unit.

It will be a lengthy process yet we hope that mature, reasonable people, backed by documentation, can respectfully resolve some long-standing discrepancies.

When Dual Track was implemented, what did that say to the C/A? It said we would rather keep deputies off the street and pay them significantly more than to reinvest in you. Morale is down and misuse of the position is rampant.

You have a Sheriff who wants your support as a voter yet does he even support you as an employee? We are constantly working out of class and being drafted behind a staffing shortage.

In the 2016-’17 Civil Grand Jury Final Report, several stations were listed as having staffing shortages. They include Carson, Industry, East L.A., Lost Hills, Norwalk, Pico and San Dimas. South L.A. was also listed because of its high-volume workload. The beat goes on.

The best thing for us is to be united. Know policy. Document misplacement of personnel. The Department cannot argue against facts. Captains and operations staff will be put on notice. They do not like getting calls from Custody Division inquiring about matters that we have brought to them and having to answer for them.

Pushing back does not make you a problematic employee, disgruntled or insubordinate. It means you are aware of your rights. Too much time has passed without some tough questions being asked about the expectation and responsibility of our position.

There needs to be definitive documentation of what a C/A can and cannot do. The lines, duties and expectations have been blurred and run together. Some supervisors do not even know and others bank on the fact that you don’t either.

Call the PPOA office if you have any questions. Seek out your delegates. The current list of active custody assistant delegates is posted with this article. Currently, we are in need of delegates at MCJ, North and IRC. And we are looking to update Towers and the entire list in general. If you are interested in being a facility delegate, contact me or call the PPOA office at (323) 261-3010.

Delegates are people whom the union can contact to check on the facilities’ well-being and having matters of concern brought to our attention. The Labor Management Committee meeting is in your M.O.U. The department has to meet with us.

If not, other labor-related tools are at our disposal that will be brought to the forefront. A day without a C/A can be a very difficult day.

Be safe.