Michael Russ, a NorCo corrections officer, spoke at last night's meeting of Northampton County Council, to address three topics.
First, he contends the county is violating the Home Rule Charter by refusing to allow corrections officers to bid on other county jobs. I agree. My own reading of the Home Rule Charter and Administrative Code is to encourage hiring from within and establishing a meritocracy instead of a culture in which who you know matters more than what you know. That matter is currently being grieved.
Second, he discussed the scheduling changes urged by the county. "There's nothing wrong with our schedule at the jail," he insists. "If it doesn't look like it's working now, it's for other reasons." He complained about being compelled to discuss this in the middle of a contract. There I think he's wrong. The most recent arbitration panel ordered the county and corrections officers to negotiate a new schedule. If they are unable to do this, an arbitration panel is going to do it for them.
Third, he took issue with Council member Ken Kraft's assertion at a meeting two weeks ago that they were being fed "sob stories." He pointed out that the CO whose wife passed away from cancer and who has a differently abled child is his friend. I'd agree that Kraft should have shown a lot more sensitivity than he did, but compassion is one of Kraft's many shortcomings. It's why I like him.
In any event, I hope that I will be able to present the perspective of corrections officers soon. For the most part, these are very dedicated workers who came to work every day during the pandemic. They also have saved the lives of several suicidal inmates.
22 comments:
Hey, if you don't like it, become a longshoreman. They're rolling in dough.
Kraft is nothing but McClures faithful pet on council. You love all things McClure, so you love Kraft. Makes sense. You also hate the CO's so I doubt they will get a fair shake form you. Kraft out and out lied for his boss, and it is sad you find him snarking on a man whose wife died of cancer is endearing. This crew is mean and cruel.
The dude admitted Krafty was right. The most recent contract is “fair” and they lost a step by going to arbitration. Watch the YouTube not the TikTok.
The mandates are too much, but our schedule is “just fine.” Are you kidding me ? Of course, since we r always talkin’ Lehigh Co. - they don’t get every other weekend off in Lehigh Co. That’s the real cause of the mandates. Norco guards get every other weekend off. Maybe that needs to change.
Kraft thinks he's the next executive. It's why he scoops poop for McClure. He doesn't represent working people. Like elitist McClure, he resents and despises them for not being satisfied with crumbs from the table. Both are heartless and horrible human beings.
We need John Brown to figure this mess out. A couple of 0-1-0 contracts and some co-insurance will get everybody straight.
5:38, Ken Kraft will never be Exec. If he ran anywhere outside the Democratic enclave of Bethlehem, he would be crushed. He would not even make it out of a primary. The public countywide is NOT going to vote for someone who resigned from council to work at the jail for 5 years and get a pension, and then quit that job to run again for the position he abandoned. They are not going to vote for a guy who insults everyone and tried to pack council with a rubber stamp to replace Zrinski, and then got caught misrepresenting what happened at Council to the court. He might actually be more unpopular than me. But he wants to be council President, complains about it incessantly, and hates being upstaged by a woman.
Do you make him pay for you to cover his mandates, or is a widower where you draw the line ?
To stop the mandates we must eliminate every other weekend off.
Do you actually think the general public knows anything about Ken and his history on the council? I bet if I asked 100 random residents in this county to name just one commissioner, 90% could not. I bet 70% couldn’t name the county executive. Only the small amount of people who follow this blog know anything about county government. Sad but true, because we all know how very exciting it is, especially with the players now who make it all worthwhile.
To eliminate the mandates you need to staff the place. Its like having a V8 engine with only 4 sparkplugs in it and saying the engine doesn't work and needs to be changed. Why don't they just staff the place. Because they can't. 65 officers short. It's not the schedule
He actually proved that Kraft was wrong because Kraft went on a little rant two weeks ago at county Council stating that the corrections officers would be four or five steps higher than what they are now if they had taken the contracts the county offered. However, it was pointed out at the meeting yesterday that the corrections officers would actually only be possibly one step higher, and that most of the time they went to binding arbitration, they actually made out better than what the county offered. So if anything, he actually proved that Ken craft is a liar.
If this so called schedule creates ot and the county wants to change it why can’t more pay be offered seems like McClure wants it all
Ken Kraft stated two weeks ago at county council that the COs would be 4-5 steps higher if they would have accepted the contracts the county offered. It was pointed that they in fact would possibly be only one step higher and that lost step was from 3 contracts ago. If anything he proved Ken Kraft is a liar and has no clue what goes on when it comes to NCP
Question. Can they take weekends off? That can challenge overtime also. Can keep every other then more easily when no weekend vacations only switches without overtime incurred
I think your paragraph about the schedule is wrong or was misinterpreted. It seemed to me like he was saying that the Officers did sit down and discuss schedule changes And they could not agree on a new schedule change. He claimed as a result of this, HR retaliated by reinterpreting things in the contract to mean different things in the middle of the contract. Which makes sense to me just look at what McClure did when he didn’t get his health center.
Low staffing levels is what's causing all the mandates, let's talk about that. 212 is considered fully staffed, we are in the 150's
Kraft is an asshole. The poor guy that lost his wife would be justified in having a little chat with him. He’s a punk.
10:46, I published these assuming that "little chat" meant just that. If it meant more, you are a thug.
8:03, I agree very few people know anything about Kraft or most of these people. But if he runs for Exec, it all comes out, the bad and the good. He has never faced a county-wide challenge.
Where did the 400 go ?
They get every other weekend off. It’s the main driver of mandates. End that. End the mandates.
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