Agreement signed to save jobs in DR&C

April 30, 2008 - OCSEA leaders in Corrections, including Assembly President Charlie Williamson, recently met with management from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to strike a deal that will allow the state to continue to post Correction Officer jobs.

Under the agreement, bargaining unit employees will be allowed the opportunity to move into vacant positions they would not normally be permitted to.

Typically, when a classification series is affected by a layoff, hiring into that class series is frozen. This is what happened when the Lima Correctional Institution closed, causing the numbers of COs to dwindle.

In order to avoid such an outcome, OCSEA and DR&C management have agreed on a process that will allow vacant CO positions to be posted and will permit current employees to apply for those positions.

Under the agreement, anyone who is currently in the CO class series, will not have their rights impacted.

The deal will also allow employees in other classifications to apply for promotions, lateral transfers or demotions into vacant CO positions. As this is being done under Article 17, employees must continue to meet minimum qualifications.

The agreement was also approved by the Corrections chapter presidents in a recent meeting.

“The union saw this as a good opportunity to allow our members the chance to move into CO vacancies, stay at their home institution and not bump, displacing other employees,” said Williamson.

See Related

Union members to protest prison job cuts outside of Belmont Correctional Institution 

Layoff Resources

State Budget

OCSEA / DRC Union Assembly Officers

Website of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections