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State Pen grapples with understaffing.
In New Mexico, images of rampaging inmates overpowering undermanned guards have been seared into the state's collective memory since the prison riot of 1980, one of the worst inmate insurrections this country has ever known.
At the Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe, the very stage for the riot, that memory might be fading a little. Staffing in particular has become so shorthanded of late that Warden Stanley Moya has been forced to ask correctional officers to work overtime following the final shift of their work week.
To make matters more unsettling, most officers have spurned Moya's request, an option allowed under their current labor contract, because they're incensed that Gov. Bill Richardson has not yet signed a new contract after two years of negotiations [Outtakes, June 15:
].
The contractual stalling has wounded the morale of an already overworked staff and provided scant motivation to take on extra duties, officials with Santa Fe Sub-local 3422, the northern chapter of the state correctional workers union, say.
"It's as if this administration just doesn't want to work with us, because nothing has been happening as far as our contract goes," Sub-local 3422 President Lee Ortega says.
Moya has been caught in the middle, not only finding himself short-staffed but with officers reluctant to bear the burden of what they perceive as administrative shortcomings. The deteriorating situation compelled Moya to meet with union officials on July 27 and ask for their help in seeking out volunteers for four-hour overtime slots, beginning after the final 12-hour shift worked by officers each week.
"I told the union, 'I need your help' because the percentage of officers refusing has been larger recently," Moya says. "I asked them to assist me in making the officers aware of the seriousness of the situation."
Sub-local 3422 Secretary Treasurer Cayetano Trujillo and Recording Secretary Joe Kellenyi say union members were prepared to ignore Moya if he tried to mandate the extra shift, but say they were satisfied with the warden's compromising approach.
"We went in and said 'we're not going to be forced to do this,'" Kellenyi says. "Our contract hasn't been signed, and it's getting ridiculous. But it isn't the warden's fault. It's the governor's."
New Mexico's Council 18 union, which represents 13,000 state workers throughout the state including correctional workers, has been waiting since May for the governor to sign a new contract. Correctional workers, in particular, are growing increasingly impatient after picketing the Roundhouse for better wages and working conditions during this past legislative session.
The workers also had repeatedly raised concerns about staffing with Corrections Secretary Joe Williams, but have been unhappy with the response.
New Mexico Corrections Department Spokeswoman Tia Bland says the Penitentiary of New Mexico is currently short 39 of 273 officer posts, but expects to fill eight of them later this year.
"We don't see this as a major staffing problem. Two years ago, we had 60 to 75 vacancies," Bland says. "We're maybe a little short staffed now, but in no way is this jeopardizing operations."
Richardson Spokesman Billy Sparks says further contractual negotiations between the Office of the Governor and Council 18 are scheduled for later this month.
In the meantime, after meeting with Moya, Kellenyi has volunteered for the overtime shift, as have approximately six other officers, he says.
Still, Kellenyi warns, the staff shortage had created an environment where officers are forced to cut corners, potentially putting both themselves, inmates and the public at large in danger.
"We already have one officer doing the work of three people. It's extremely frustrating," he says.
