Prison officers union fails to block official

Sacramento Bee ^ | 6/21/7 | Andy Furillo

[SmithL]

A move by the politically influential prison officers union to thwart the appointment of a new state personnel director failed Wednesday when the California Senate's Rules Committee approved the nominee on a unanimous vote.

The vote in favor of David Gilb to head the Department of Personnel Administration came less than 24 hours before the state's first mediation session with the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the union whose 31,000 members have been working without a contract for nearly a year.

"It's important to get on with the business of getting this agreement done, and yes, it is a relief," Gilb said, about the Rules Committee vote, "because we have very, very important business to take care of."

CCPOA President Mike Jimenez lashed out at Gilb at his June 4 confirmation hearing, challenging his honesty and integrity in the stalled contract negotiations. Jimenez said Wednesday's vote did nothing to soften the union's impression of the head of the state's human resources department. Gilb's confirmation is expected to easily be approved by the full Senate.

"I can tell you Mr. Gilb has no credibility with anyone, anywhere within CCPOA," Jimenez said.

The state has offered the union a four-year deal that contains an 18 percent pay raise and will increase the top-step, line officer's salary to $87,700, plus benefits. But the union says a number of other items, such as uniform allowances, will leave its members short of agreements the state already has made with the California Association of Highway Patrolmen. The CCPOA also is strongly opposed to a series of proposals made by the state to reassert management control in prison operations.

[SmithL]

- "We're here and we're deadlocked because we have difficulty in talking with each other. I think we need this process to speed us along to an agreement." David Gilb nominee to head the state Department of Personnel Administration