Latest news with #Corrections
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Community Corrections Staff Gearing Up For Industrial Action
Press Release – PSA 'We will be looking to take industrial action if we do not get an improved offer from Corrections, and the mediation, set down for Wednesday 4 June, fails,' says Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pkenga … Community Corrections staff – who manage the 26,000 people the Department of Corrections is responsible for outside of prisons – are gearing up to take industrial action. Community Corrections staff – including Probation Officers and Electronic Monitoring staff – are frustrated with low pay and ballooning workloads further fuelled by anger over the Government's rushed changes to the Pay Equity Act, says Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. 'We will be looking to take industrial action if we do not get an improved offer from Corrections, and the mediation, set down for Wednesday 4 June, fails,' Fitzsimons says. Community Corrections staff are 68% female, which falls just agonisingly short of the Government's new threshold requiring a workforce to be made up of 70% women to take a pay equity claim. 'Up until the recent reversal, Probation Officers were subject to a five-year long pay equity claim, they were found to be significantly undervalued and their claim was before the Employment Relations Authority to be settled, Fitzsimons says. 'With the ability to raise a pay equity claim cynically extinguished by the Government, underpaid Community Corrections workers will be expecting to see a significantly improved offer from Corrections,' Fitzsimons says. Community Corrections workers include probation officers, programme facilitators, electronic monitoring staff, community work supervisors, bail support officers, administration staff, and many others. On any given day, Community Corrections staff work with 70% of the people Correction is responsible for, about 26,000 people living in the community. These people include those: who have been released from prison; who are serving Community-based sentences; who are electronically monitored; and who are on electronic bail. PSA union Community Corrections members have been negotiating with Corrections since December and have been offered increases of around 1%, further embedding their low pay, Fitzsimons says. The PSA is balloting members on taking three escalating actions – a complete withdrawal of labour for two, then four then eight hours. An indicative poll of Delegates showed unanimous support for industrial action.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Community Corrections Staff Gearing Up For Industrial Action
Press Release – PSA 'We will be looking to take industrial action if we do not get an improved offer from Corrections, and the mediation, set down for Wednesday 4 June, fails,' says Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pkenga … Community Corrections staff – who manage the 26,000 people the Department of Corrections is responsible for outside of prisons – are gearing up to take industrial action. Community Corrections staff – including Probation Officers and Electronic Monitoring staff – are frustrated with low pay and ballooning workloads further fuelled by anger over the Government's rushed changes to the Pay Equity Act, says Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. 'We will be looking to take industrial action if we do not get an improved offer from Corrections, and the mediation, set down for Wednesday 4 June, fails,' Fitzsimons says. Community Corrections staff are 68% female, which falls just agonisingly short of the Government's new threshold requiring a workforce to be made up of 70% women to take a pay equity claim. 'Up until the recent reversal, Probation Officers were subject to a five-year long pay equity claim, they were found to be significantly undervalued and their claim was before the Employment Relations Authority to be settled, Fitzsimons says. 'With the ability to raise a pay equity claim cynically extinguished by the Government, underpaid Community Corrections workers will be expecting to see a significantly improved offer from Corrections,' Fitzsimons says. Community Corrections workers include probation officers, programme facilitators, electronic monitoring staff, community work supervisors, bail support officers, administration staff, and many others. On any given day, Community Corrections staff work with 70% of the people Correction is responsible for, about 26,000 people living in the community. These people include those: who have been released from prison; who are serving Community-based sentences; who are electronically monitored; and who are on electronic bail. PSA union Community Corrections members have been negotiating with Corrections since December and have been offered increases of around 1%, further embedding their low pay, Fitzsimons says. The PSA is balloting members on taking three escalating actions – a complete withdrawal of labour for two, then four then eight hours. An indicative poll of Delegates showed unanimous support for industrial action.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Community Corrections Staff Gearing Up For Industrial Action
Community Corrections staff - who manage the 26,000 people the Department of Corrections is responsible for outside of prisons - are gearing up to take industrial action. Community Corrections staff - including Probation Officers and Electronic Monitoring staff - are frustrated with low pay and ballooning workloads further fuelled by anger over the Government's rushed changes to the Pay Equity Act, says Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. "We will be looking to take industrial action if we do not get an improved offer from Corrections, and the mediation, set down for Wednesday 4 June, fails," Fitzsimons says. Community Corrections staff are 68% female, which falls just agonisingly short of the Government's new threshold requiring a workforce to be made up of 70% women to take a pay equity claim. "Up until the recent reversal, Probation Officers were subject to a five-year long pay equity claim, they were found to be significantly undervalued and their claim was before the Employment Relations Authority to be settled, Fitzsimons says. "With the ability to raise a pay equity claim cynically extinguished by the Government, underpaid Community Corrections workers will be expecting to see a significantly improved offer from Corrections," Fitzsimons says. Community Corrections workers include probation officers, programme facilitators, electronic monitoring staff, community work supervisors, bail support officers, administration staff, and many others. On any given day, Community Corrections staff work with 70% of the people Correction is responsible for, about 26,000 people living in the community. These people include those: who have been released from prison; who are serving Community-based sentences; who are electronically monitored; and who are on electronic bail. PSA union Community Corrections members have been negotiating with Corrections since December and have been offered increases of around 1%, further embedding their low pay, Fitzsimons says. The PSA is balloting members on taking three escalating actions - a complete withdrawal of labour for two, then four then eight hours. An indicative poll of Delegates showed unanimous support for industrial action.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Authorities looking at whether kitchen job played role in 'Devil in the Ozarks' prison escape
Arkansas authorities are looking at whether a job in the prison kitchen played a role in the escape of a convicted former police chief known as the 'Devil in the Ozarks.' Grant Hardin, 56, was housed in a maximum-security wing of the Calico Rock prison from which he escaped on Sunday by donning an outfit designed to look like a law enforcement uniform, Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesperson Rand Champion told The Associated Press Thursday. But Hardin also held a job in the kitchen of the medium-security facility.
RNZ News
7 days ago
- RNZ News
Fighter at Dan Hooker's backyard brawl event referred to police
File photo. Photo: 123RF One of the 32 fighters involved in a controversial and unregulated backyard fight contest at the weekend has been referred to the police. The man, whom Checkpoint understands to be a senior Mongrel Mob member from the Bay of Plenty, was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet in footage of his fight released to social media and was supposed to be attending a rehabilitation programme. Over 30 fighters gathered on Saturday in an undisclosed Auckland backyard to compete for a $50,000 prize. Social media posts show the event promoted by a well known MMA fighter Dan "Hangman" Hooker. It was billed as 32 fighters going head to head in one minute scraps to be the last man standing and crowned king of the streets. All fighters were subsequently offered $1000 for competing. Checkpoint raised the issue with Corrections earlier on Tuesday. Its director of community operations David Grigg said the gang member with the electronic monitoring bracelet was granted approval to attend a rehabilitation programme by a provider approved by the courts. He says it was part of the man's bail conditions. He said Corrections received assurance the absence was for a rehabilitation activity focussed on wellness and physical health. He said since receiving new information about the nature of the gang member's absence, it has now been referred to the police. More to come Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
