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New York County COs Demand Better Working Conditions

October 6, 2009

Understaffed, overworked and underpaid. These are the conditions corrections officers at the Sullivan County Jail in Monticello want to change now.

“Our working conditions affect us greatly,” says Joe Manning, a corrections officer at the facility for 17 years and the vice president of Sullivan County Sheriff's Office Unit 8800, Local 853 of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Local 1000. “They affect our home life and how we do our job the next day.”

That’s why Manning and 15 other officers showed up in full force to express their demands at a meeting of county legislators earlier this month. The lawmakers promised to act promptly in improving working conditions at the 100-year-old jail.

The COs have been without a contract since December 2007. They are forced to work stressful 16-hour shifts because of staffing shortages. The state is required to employ 102 COs but the county only has 91. Several can’t work because of disabilities and training assignments. In addition to being overworked and understaffed, the COs are grossly underpaid. The maximum pay in neighboring Ulster County is $14,268 more than Sullivan County.

“I think these people have been vastly underpaid and neglected,” said County Legislator Dave Sager. He added that the budget crunch should not prevent the county from moving contract negotiations quickly and improving the CO’s working conditions. Several lawmakers from both parties signaled their support.

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