Name: Jail working conditions compared to that of ‘coal mine’
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Jail working conditions compared to that of ‘coal mine’

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The lead representative for the local deputies’ union hammered away during a virtual collective bargaining session Wednesday on working conditions at the Bexar County Jail, comparing detention officers to workers in a coal mine.“You just keep working them, and working them, and working them, and we think that’s got to stop,” said attorney Ron DeLord, chief negotiator for the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Bexar County. “We cannot agree to continue a process that allows workers to be worked to a point of exhaustion and have no personal life.”An attorney for the county said it was looking for solutions to address some of the issues raised by the union, but also noted budgetary constraints.DeLord said deputies need to earn a better salary.According to the county’s website, cadets who attend a 14-week detention academy at the Sheriff’s Office draw a monthly salary of $2,975 while training, and $3,114 upon graduation. After completion of a one-year probation, the salary increases again to $3,309 monthly.More for youBut DeLord said the detention workers need “good starting pay” and “steady raises for the next five years” after completing the academy. While it’s up to the county to decide how much to pay staff, DeLord said the association is proposing a compressed schedule of salary increases, reduced from nine years to five years, to give detention officers motivation to stay.At the end of the five years, they could be making about $47,000 annually, he said.On ExpressNews.com:The jail currently has more than 200 staff vacancies, and the association believes about 500 detention officers have resigned in the past four years. Long hours and lack of opportunities for them to transfer to law enforcement are key factors, said DeLord, who also was chief negotiator for the San Antonio Police Officers Association in similar talks with the city in 2015.Last year, the jail was declared out of compliance with state jail standards. But the Sheriff’s Office got the facility back into adherence, in part by no longer using civilians in roles where certified uniformed personnel were required.County leaders, through jail diversion, conditional releases granted by judges and legal presumption of eligibility for personal recognizance bonds for nonviolent offenders, had reduced the jail population from about 3,900 to 2,900.That number lately has swelled back to close to 4,000. And with spacing protocols in place during the pandemic, the jail has had to step up staffing to remain in compliance with state standards.Sheriff Javier Salazar, a Democrat completing his first term and facing Republican challenger Gerard C. “Gerry” Rickhoff in the Nov. 3 election, has said some detention officers are working three overtime shifts per week.Whatever Salazar and the county are doing isn’t working, DeLord said.“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have 238 vacancies and we wouldn’t have the turnover rate that’s just astronomical,” he said, calling the issue “our big ticket item” in talks over a new collective bargaining agreement to replace a four-year accord that runs through Sept. 30.Any reduction of overtime will save taxpayers money, he said. County officials budgeted about $5 million for overtime in the Sheriff’s Office this year, and had estimated the agency’s overtime costs last year would run about $8 million. But DeLord said the problems are ignored because people don’t see it.“The amount of work being forced on the jail cannot continue,” he said. “The people working in the jail are basically no better than working in a coal mine, and nobody cared about their health or safety, because the work is just endless. You can’t plan anything, you can’t get off, you can’t attend family events.”Attorney Sarah Griffin, an associate of Lowell Denton, the county’s lead negotiator, said the county negotiating team was aware of resignations at the jail, is “looking for good solutions,” and would study the association’s proposal, considering its costs and the county’s available resources in the pandemic.“I fear how this is going to cost out, but we will certainly take a strong look at it and see if it’s anywhere within the realm of possibility,” Griffin said.In a related matter, the association requested a tweak in policy that the union said interferes with detention officers’ efforts to secure lateral transfers from the jail to patrol duty. It’s deflating, association members said, when a detention officer eyeing a patrol position sees it taken instead by an officer who just resigned from a suburban police department.On ExpressNews.com:Griffin said county negotiators and policymakers would “have to discuss and consider the effects of seeking the best person for the (patrol) position, versus seeking ways for someone to rise in the ranks within.”“I think both are important concepts to consider and weigh. One may or may not be more important than the other,” she said. “But I understand what you’re saying, that you don’t want them feeling like they’re stuck in … a dead-end job, and that too is an important stepping stone for them as well.”The session was the eighth publicly posted meeting held via video conference since early June. Under ground rules agreed on by both sides, the public is welcome to observe, but is not allowed to directly participate in the sessions.People can provide input via email at CBAPublicInput@bexar.org.Another negotiation session is planned for later this month.Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Scott, . | Twitter:

The lead representative for the local deputies’ union hammered away during a virtual collective bargaining session Wednesday on working conditions at the Bexar County Jail, comparing detention officers to workers in a coal mine.“You just keep working them, and working them, and working them, and we think that’s got to stop,” said attorney Ron DeLord, chief negotiator for the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Bexar County. “We cannot agree to continue a process that allows workers to be worked to a point of exhaustion and have no personal life.”An attorney for the county said it was looking for...

Jail working conditions compared to that of ‘coal mine’

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