A Retired California Official tells the inside story of Public Unions in the State

A retired correctional officer, Rod Ferroggiaro,  reacted to my post on California State's Bankruptcy and he had interesting remarks on how the public unions in California have evolved into a special interest group ripping off the public. His comments are an eye-opener.


 I spent most of my career at San Quentin but also worked in Tracy (D.V.I) and Ione (Mule Creek State Prison) California. As a member of The California Correctional Peace Officer Association (CCPOA), I speak from experience when I relate how this union, along with the other government employee unions are leading our state down the path of destruction. It seems not that long ago that working in California’s prisons was a job although always dangerous was a workplace where you felt proud, a workplace filled with a can do attitude not unlike elite military units, officers and management worked as a team we led the nation in professalism and education. During the mid 1980s, our state prison population exploded. Prisons were built all over our state thousands of new officers were hired and the prison unions coffers overflowed, CCPOA became a force to be reckoned with in our states politics , anyone who stood up against them was crushed , state officials soon learned to fear them if they wanted to stay in office. Moral in our prisons soon took a turn for the worst no longer was management (Sergeants-Lieutenants) a position strived for by officers. Large numbers of top paying high echelon positions have been created that were never needed. Discipline has become almost nonexistent, Sick abuse is now the norm and since its all on the taxpayer’s dime, no one wants to stand up against this powerful union. An example of sick use abuse would be when the Oakland Raiders play at home San Quentin cannot man enough positions to run the prison in a normal way they have had to modify their programs. Now that our state has reached the breaking point we should pull our heads out of the sand, we badly need to expose these unions for what they are political powerhouses who employ a fleet of lawyers who have plenty of money to spend on misleading television advertisements, these people are not used to opposition most Wardens hide under their desks at the first sign of conflict. Lawmakers have no stomach to tackle the union thugs our only hope is the people of California wakening up and demanding a stop of this fraud, Waste and abuse.