-- Asks for meeting with each to discuss salary disparities
Date: 11/23/2005
“We recognize we recently entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the state. That agreement, however, was entered into when the state had far less resources available to address these inequities than now,” the letter said. “Recent reports indicate that the state may have underestimated revenues by as much as $4 billion this fiscal year. Given that revenue increase, we believe that the state can afford to address these inequities … Failure to address these deficiencies now will result in the employing departments becoming less capable of performing their important missions for the state of California … Failure to take prompt action will result in the continued deterioration of quality public safety services to the people of California.”
The letter noted that pay inequities existed across many CAUSE-member jobs, but it cited two in particular as in need of urgent action, dispatchers with the California Highway Patrol and special agents with the Department of Justice. “In some cases, such as the public safety dispatchers within the California Highway Patrol, departments are already severely understaffed as a result of their inability to pay adequate wages compared to similar employees in local governments. Likewise, we believe that the Department of Justice will continue to lose talented and experienced special agents to the state’s correctional agencies.”
The full letter can read by clicking on the link below.
“State public-safety employment should be an attraction for municipal and county workers, offering a chance to advance their professional skills at a higher level of salary and benefits,” said Barcelona for this web site. “Instead, in many cases, it is nothing more than an academy graduate’s first stop before moving on to richer fields in local and federal governments. A Governor’s first job is to provide for the public safety of Californians, and that safety is being compromised by diminished or demoralized staffing levels at many state agencies. The voters sent a clear message this month that it was time to get down to real work. We look forward to working with the Governor and his Department of Personnel Administration in producing the nation’s best public safety network.”