Post by CC on Oct 19, 2009 14:43:09 GMT -5
The Department of Corrections will lay off 37 people and reassign another 21, Corrections spokesman Jeff Lyons said yesterday.
"We'll continue to run most safe and secure facility we can within the resources we have," Lyons said.
The state is still notifying the 250 state employees who will lose their jobs, and the 60 who will be demoted, after members of the State Employees' Association rejected a tentative contract. The governor's office has declined to release numbers by department until all employees are notified. But the union has been compiling information, and Lyons confirmed the Corrections numbers after layoff notices went out yesterday.
Lyons said 14 of the laid-off employees are corrections officers and 23 are civilian staff, which includes clerical support staff, teachers, people in medical jobs, and administrators in the probation and parole department. The employees came from all corrections institutions, including the men's prisons in Concord and Berlin, the women's prison in Goffstown and people from probation and parole services. Another 21 people will be demoted or transferred into vacant positions. The layoffs will go into effect Oct. 29.
Among those laid off yesterday was Ralph Woekel, a corporal in a secure psychiatric unit in the Concord prison.
Woekel, 38, who is married with three young children, said he was devastated.
"I'm going to be looking (for a job) everywhere I can find, turning over every rock for my family, whatever I can find to make ends meet," Woekel said.
Woekel said he is frustrated that although Lynch is trying to reduce recidivism rates, "He continues to cut and cut at the Department of Corrections." Woekel predicted that the layoffs could affect public safety.
Originally, in August and September, Lynch estimated that 750 workers would be laid off. At that time, Lyons said the governor asked the Corrections Department to prepare for 56 layoffs. But after Lynch revised his estimate, the Corrections Department was given a lower number.
Asked earlier this week about the disparity between Lynch's early estimate and the actual number of laid-off employees, Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn said some factors for his department included vacancies from people who retired or resigned, and differences between estimated and actual salaries of those who will be laid off.
Lyons said the department is still assessing how to change scheduling for programs and treatment and how to "make whatever adjustments are needed" to maintain security.
The department already laid off 39 workers when the Legislature closed the Laconia prison as part of this year's budget process. About one-third have been rehired.
In other news, union spokesman Mike Barwell said yesterday that he knew of 10 departments where there would be no layoffs. Many receive little or no money from the state's general fund.
They include: the Department of Education, the Adjutant General, the Community College System of New Hampshire, the Public Utilities Commission, the Banking Department and the Insurance Department. It was announced previously that Employment Security, Fish and Game, Safety and Transportation will avoid layoffs.
In addition to the Corrections layoffs, Barwell said 10 people from the Department of Information Technology will lose their jobs. The union also confirmed 20 layoffs at the Sununu Youth Development Center in Manchester. Those are part of the 150 employees who will be laid off or demoted at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Barwell said the union is investigating whether employees have been targeted by the state for their union activities, noting that at least two chapter presidents and "a number of stewards" have been laid off.
But Woekel, president of a union chapter representing corrections officers and corporals, said he had no evidence that he was laid off because of union activities. "I'd like to think that's not the case," he said.
Lynch spokesman Colin Manning called allegations of discrimination "ridiculous." "Layoffs were based on job function, not individuals," he said.
"We'll continue to run most safe and secure facility we can within the resources we have," Lyons said.
The state is still notifying the 250 state employees who will lose their jobs, and the 60 who will be demoted, after members of the State Employees' Association rejected a tentative contract. The governor's office has declined to release numbers by department until all employees are notified. But the union has been compiling information, and Lyons confirmed the Corrections numbers after layoff notices went out yesterday.
Lyons said 14 of the laid-off employees are corrections officers and 23 are civilian staff, which includes clerical support staff, teachers, people in medical jobs, and administrators in the probation and parole department. The employees came from all corrections institutions, including the men's prisons in Concord and Berlin, the women's prison in Goffstown and people from probation and parole services. Another 21 people will be demoted or transferred into vacant positions. The layoffs will go into effect Oct. 29.
Among those laid off yesterday was Ralph Woekel, a corporal in a secure psychiatric unit in the Concord prison.
Woekel, 38, who is married with three young children, said he was devastated.
"I'm going to be looking (for a job) everywhere I can find, turning over every rock for my family, whatever I can find to make ends meet," Woekel said.
Woekel said he is frustrated that although Lynch is trying to reduce recidivism rates, "He continues to cut and cut at the Department of Corrections." Woekel predicted that the layoffs could affect public safety.
Originally, in August and September, Lynch estimated that 750 workers would be laid off. At that time, Lyons said the governor asked the Corrections Department to prepare for 56 layoffs. But after Lynch revised his estimate, the Corrections Department was given a lower number.
Asked earlier this week about the disparity between Lynch's early estimate and the actual number of laid-off employees, Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn said some factors for his department included vacancies from people who retired or resigned, and differences between estimated and actual salaries of those who will be laid off.
Lyons said the department is still assessing how to change scheduling for programs and treatment and how to "make whatever adjustments are needed" to maintain security.
The department already laid off 39 workers when the Legislature closed the Laconia prison as part of this year's budget process. About one-third have been rehired.
In other news, union spokesman Mike Barwell said yesterday that he knew of 10 departments where there would be no layoffs. Many receive little or no money from the state's general fund.
They include: the Department of Education, the Adjutant General, the Community College System of New Hampshire, the Public Utilities Commission, the Banking Department and the Insurance Department. It was announced previously that Employment Security, Fish and Game, Safety and Transportation will avoid layoffs.
In addition to the Corrections layoffs, Barwell said 10 people from the Department of Information Technology will lose their jobs. The union also confirmed 20 layoffs at the Sununu Youth Development Center in Manchester. Those are part of the 150 employees who will be laid off or demoted at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Barwell said the union is investigating whether employees have been targeted by the state for their union activities, noting that at least two chapter presidents and "a number of stewards" have been laid off.
But Woekel, president of a union chapter representing corrections officers and corporals, said he had no evidence that he was laid off because of union activities. "I'd like to think that's not the case," he said.
Lynch spokesman Colin Manning called allegations of discrimination "ridiculous." "Layoffs were based on job function, not individuals," he said.