Posted on 03/09/2006 7:30:23 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger griped last year that the state prison guards union had grown too powerful.
So who did he appoint to challenge the labor group during contract talks this spring? A former guard who helped engineer the union's rise to prominence.
Tim Virga, a one-time union activist, will act as one of the state's lead negotiators in talks with the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.
State officials this week described Virga as a skilled negotiator who will drive a tough bargain with the 30,000-member union, widely considered one of California's most politically influential labor groups.
“Mr. Virga's background and experience qualify him for this position,” said Julie Soderlund, a spokeswoman for the governor.
They insist Virga only will negotiate issues tied to prison operations, not retirement benefits or any related compensation issues, thereby eliminating any potential financial conflicts.
But government watchdog groups, labor union experts and others say Virga's role, even if it passes legal muster, poses fundamental ethical problems.
“It always raises questions when someone goes from one side to the other,” said Bob Stern, a political reform expert and president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. “One of the questions that comes up is, where is his loyalty?”
Professor Craig Barkacs, who teaches business law, ethics and labor issues at the University of San Diego, likened it to a lawyer switching sides in the same case.
“To some, Virga may be seen as a mole for the union. To others, the move may be seen as an act of betrayal,” he said. “That's why it's not a good idea either way.”
Virga, 46, was appointed chief of labor relations for the prison system early last year, after serving in a similar job with the state Department of Personnel Administration.
Representing the state in 2004, Virga negotiated revisions in the guard contract that officials say will save the state a projected $108 million.
“In terms of a problem, that I might get something by virtue of my position, it's just really not true,” said Virga in a telephone interview this week. “I feel satisfied there's no conflict.”
Virga worked at Folsom State Prison from 1983 to 2002 as a guard and a correctional counselor, and sat on the union side of the bargaining table when it negotiated its contract with the state in the mid-1990s.
He was also a chapter president with the union.
Lance Corcoran, the labor group's chief of governmental affairs, dismissed suggestions that Virga may still harbor union loyalties.
“When someone goes to the other side, generally they are not viewed favorably,” he said. “The idea that Tim is our friend is laughable.”
The union's five-year labor agreement with the state expires July 2. Formal talks on a new contract may begin as soon as next month.
Many experts consider the current pact, reached during the Gov. Davis administration, to be one of the most lucrative public employee contracts in the state.
Prison officials now complain that the state negotiated away many traditional operational functions, including managerial control over workloads and scheduling, further tilting power toward the union.
That, they hope, will change once a new pact is inked.
“There are a lot of things (in the contract) that we're going to try to take back,” said J.P. Tremblay, a spokesman with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “We're basically trying to reassert the role of management.”
But Corcoran said many of the provisions in question, including those linked to sick leave and overtime, mirror those found in other public employee agreements.
To those who want the union to back down from those provisions, Corcoran sarcastically responded: “Good luck.”
Schwarzenegger last year named the $8 billion prison agency his top priority for reform, saying it has been hurt by “too much political influence, too much union control and too little management courage and accountability.”
But the ambitious overhaul – too ambitious, some say – appears to have lost considerable steam.
Roderick Q. Hickman – Schwarzenegger's point man on reform – last week quit his job as secretary of the corrections department. He reportedly accused the governor and others of backtracking on an overhaul.
Eyebrows also were raised recently when Schwarzenegger named Democrat Susan P. Kennedy to serve as his chief of staff. Kennedy was one of Gov. Davis' closest advisers when the current guard contract was negotiated by his office and later ratified by the state Legislature in 2002.
Meanwhile, the governor now says he wants to build two more prisons, despite earlier promises to reduce the inmate population. The state houses 170,000 inmates in 32 facilities.
And payroll costs continue to balloon. Taxpayers last year spent twice as much on guard overtime – some $277 million – compared to the previous year, a recent San Diego Union-Tribune analysis of payroll data showed.
Hickman earned $131,000 last year, while some 150 rank-and-file correctional officers grossed more than that, largely due to a surge in mandatory and voluntary overtime.
The jump in overtime was tied to a shortage of correctional officers, a problem made worse when the state suspended guard training classes in 2003 and 2004.
Virga said this week that he wanted to zero in on sick-leave policies during negotiations, and called it a major contributor to the increase in overtime.
He will sit with a panel of state negotiators that includes appointees from the corrections department and the state personnel administration. Managers from personnel will negotiate compensation issues, while Virga and the corrections staff will only talk to the union about prison operations.
That arrangement, state officials say, will ensure that Virga – as a former member of the rank and file – has no role in any issue that could affect his pocketbook, such as future retirement benefits.
Virga earned 19 years of retirement credit while working at Folsom.
Labor experts, however, say it is often impossible – in the rough-and-tumble of contract negotiations – to separate operations from benefit issues.
“I question whether you can construct a firewall under these circumstances,” said USD's Barkacs.
Harley Shaiken, a labor expert at UC Berkeley, called Virga's transformation from union activist to state negotiator unusual but not unprecedented. “His union experience is valuable to the state and makes him potentially a formidable negotiator,” he said.
But it does, he added, raise complications that can work for or against either side.
Barkacs agreed, saying the situation “immediately breeds distrust.”
Virga is not bothered by the criticism. “After 19 years at Folsom, that's not going to faze me,” he said.
I fully expect that a San Francisco madam will soon be appointed to head the California State Communicable Disease Control Board because of her industry experience.
I don't think we can afford any more of these "tough bargains" negotiated by the administration.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.