Albany Probation Officers Protest Lack of Contract

ALBANY, NY (08/08/2011)(readMedia)-- Albany County probation officers, represented by the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF), are protesting their lack of a contract tonight, August 8, 2011, at a meeting of the Albany County Legislature.

The county's nearly 100 probation officers have been trying unsuccessfully to negotiate a contract since August 2008. Their previous bargaining agreement expired December 31, 2008.

The county agreed to give other groups of its employees a 3 percent raise retroactive to January 1, 2009, a $500 bonus effective January 1 of this year, and a 2 percent pay raise effective January 1, 2012, but it has taken a harder line with its probation officers.

The officers have said they are willing to forego the $500 bonus and are just asking for the 3 percent pay raise retroactive to July 1, 2010, and the 2 percent raise increase effective January 1, 2012. So far, the county has refused to agree even to that.

The PEF members want to know why they are denied even a portion of what their co-workers were given, especially since they risk their lives to keep Albany County residents safe by monitoring and enforcing the conditions of release of thousands of offenders.

"Our members who work in the Albany County Probation Department protect the safety and rights of all citizens, but their right to fair compensation is not being respected. If it were, they would have settled this contract long before now," said Albany region PEF leader Bill Wurster.

PEF is the state's second-largest public-employee union and represents approximately 56,000 public- and private-sector members, including 95 employees of the Albany County Probation Department.