Contract squabble ends.
For the better part of two years, state employees-and corrections workers in particular [Outtakes, Aug. 3: "
"]-have done time on the picket line and at the bargaining table trying to hammer out a contract with Gov. Bill Richardson.
On Sept. 13, Richardson announced a three-year contract covering 6,700 state employees had been reached with the New Mexico Council 18 union, which represents thousands of state, county and city workers. The agreement-which still requires legislative approval-was roundly applauded at the signing.
"The contract we're signing today is a strong pact," Richardson said. "This is probably the most generous [state employee] contract in the country today."
While leaders of Council 18 (part of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) like Executive Director Anthony Marquez and President Robert Chavez praised the deal, not all felt the same way. For corrections workers like Lee Ortega, the president of Santa Fe Sub-local 3422, the contract was as hard to swallow as the Chef's Surprise in the penitentiary cafeteria.
"Most of the state employees that I've spoken to aren't real happy with it, but it's what we got," Ortega says. "It's better than nothing."
What they have-after two years of intense negotiations over issues like pay, benefits and workers' rights-is a contract. But Ortega says the contentious climate between Richardson and corrections workers won't disappear merely by signing on the dotted line. "The attitude of the administration hasn't changed," Ortega says. "The governor is still bulldogging people. A lot of us feel like we wasted a lot of time negotiating to not get what we wanted in the end."
While acknowledging some corrections workers may be unhappy with the contract, Marquez characterized the agreement as an overall victory.
"Corrections is a more vocal group but they aren't the only ones with issues," Marquez says. "We represent the concerns of 14 different agencies. The corrections workers are good guys and they may be more vocal about their concerns, but they were at the negotiating table with us."
Chavez echoed Marquez's sentiment that the contract is a solid step forward for improving working conditions for state employees and union relations with the Richardson administration.
"I think there was a fair and honest effort to make good on the resolutions of arbitration," Chavez says. "That's a good sign. It's good to see the state doing something to support its employees, which are the backbone of the whole system. It's also good that the Council stood its ground and weathered the storm."
But the skies haven't cleared yet. Chavez acknowledges that while the contract will specifically help the lowest-paid state employees , addressing the grievances of the state's understaffed, underpaid and overworked corrections employees is a top concern for future negotiations.
"Our corrections workers make about $3.50 below the national average and they're exposed to more hazards," Chavez says. "We want to make that a priority. It's not a problem that's going to go away. If anything, it's getting worse."
