California prison guards are on track to receive more than $1 billion in raises, perks and benefits over the next three years as part of a preliminary contract that includes $10,000 bonuses at three hard-to-staff units.

The deal with the California Correctional Peace Officers Ass

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The union for roughly 26,000 prison workers comes as the state has downsized its prison system by closing two facilities and planning to empty at least two more.

Despite the dwindling number of inmates and prisons, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the hope is that retention bonuses will help resolve the staffing struggle.

We are experiencing recruitment challenges similar to those faced by other law enforcement agencies, prison spokeswoman Mary Xjimenez told The Times. Our recruiting efforts are extensive and ongoing, with retention bonuses being part of our overall effort.

But a report released Tuesday by the California Legislative Analysts Office has raised concerns about some parts of the proposed agreement.

It

do not clearly support the claim that the state has had serious problems recruiting personnel.

Glen Stailey, the union’s president, did not immediately respond to a question about the state analysis, but said contract talks are progressing smoothly.

We have reached a preliminary agreement that will go through our internal process before commenting publicly on its contents, he said.

The union has yet to formally approve the contract, as have the legislature and the governor. The Senate Budget Committee will consider the bill on Wednesday.

Gavin Newsom’s office, which was responsible for the negotiations leading to the preliminary agreement now on the table, referred questions to the US Department of Human Resources, which said it would not comment on ongoing labor negotiations.

In addition to offering $10,000 bonuses to staff at the three units of Salinas Valley State Prison in Monterey County, California State Prison in Sacramento, and RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, the preliminary contract would also include $5,000 payments for new employees who relocate or more. travel more than 50 miles. to work at one of the 13 targeted facilities.

The deal, first reported by CalMatters, also includes a 3% salary increase both this year and next, which will cost the state an additional $259 million each year. Some employees could get $100 more per month for this

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college degree or speak a second language, or $200 per month for having a commercial driver’s license.

Other benefits include two $1,200 payments to support employee health and wellness, and a new employer-funded 401(k) plan in addition to the existing retirement plan.

While the two-year agreement was supposed to go into effect retroactively last month, the state’s $1 billion cost estimate is spread over a three-year period to account for spending beyond the term of the contract.

The proposal comes months after the California Department of Human Resources released its 2022 wage study, which found statewide prison officers earn about 23% less than prison officers in California’s six largest sheriff’s departments.

But Tuesday’s review by the Legislative Analysts Office, the state’s impartial fiscal adviser, backtracked on that finding, saying the analysis was based on flawed methodology.

The analysis found that the pay survey did not take into account overtime earnings, which made up roughly 24% of prison staff’s gross regular salary last year. And the six sheriff’s departments that served as points of comparison were not representative because they were all located in large counties with a particularly high cost of living.

More than 50 percent of state prison officers are employed in lower-cost areas of the interior, the report said. It recommended that the legislature not use this research to assess whether or not state compensation for correctional officers is appropriate.

The report also challenged the idea that state prisons have problems recruiting and retaining corrections officers. Despite a recent increase, the data shows, the correction department vacancy rate is still lower today than it was a decade ago, from 14.5% in January 2014 to 12.9% in July 2023. And from 2013 to with last year, the report said, prison system turned away more than 90%

per cent

of qualified candidates.

The high interest in the job, despite the challenging working conditions, likely reflects that, compared to other jobs with similar educational requirements, the state offers correctional officers competitive salaries and benefits, as well as job security, the report said.

that showed that turnover had increased slightly in recent years.

The report also raised concerns about some details of the contract, noting that the $1,200 health care and welfare payments, estimated to cost a total of about $59 million, do not contain any requirement that the money be used for that purpose.

In addition, the report said, the creation of an employer-funded 401(k) plan would reflect a major policy change, expanding retirement benefits beyond what is already among the most generous pensions for state employees.

In addition to financial concerns, the analyst firm also criticized the Newsom administration’s last-minute delivery of contract proposals to several negotiating units.

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The governor’s office gave budget committees just three days to review thousands of pages of documents before scheduling hearings, the report said.

Prison reform advocates have also criticized the costly proposal. Alesha Monteiro, statewide policy coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget, a coalition focused on shifting police and prison spending

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said the prison guards’ union “exerts excessive political power” compared to other other labor groups.

It’s disheartening to hear of guards receiving bonuses as stories of mistreatment, abuse and neglect in California’s prisons surface regularly,” Monteiro said. “All the while, other state employees continue to struggle financially and fight over the crumbs CDCR leaves behind.