CWA Arizona Corrections Workers Win 'Meet and Confer'

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has signed an executive order establishing a "meet and confer" process for discussing with CWA the hours, working conditions, safety and other issues affecting 9,600 employees of the state's Department of Corrections, including 3,600 members of CWA's Arizona Coalition of Police and Sheriffs (AZCOPS), Local 7077.

"There has never been a labor group recognized in this way in the state of Arizona. We're making history here," said Tixoc Muñoz, president of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association, an AZCOPS affiliate.

The executive order caps a year of work by Muñoz and CWA, beginning with Napolitano's 2006 election campaign. Muñoz took a full month leave of absence to work on Napolitano's campaign full-time, calling and speaking to members of 85 other police officer associations that make up AZCOPS' total membership of about 8,600.

"It probably helps that we're the largest union in the state," said John Burpo, director of CWA's National Coalition of Public Safety Officers, who also worked to obtain the executive order. CWA's total membership in Arizona is around 15,000.

The order requires that the director of the Arizona Department of Corrections meet at least quarterly with the "duly elected representative of any employee organization whose members constitute at least 50 percent of all Department of Corrections employees who participate in payroll deductions for employee organizations." CWA is the only state employee organization that meets that criterion.

Subjects for discussion include hours, employee safety conditions, disciplinary policies, morale issues and budgetary strategy and requests.

Local 7077 represents corrections officers, teachers, maintenance, clerical and other workers at several state facilities.

Muñoz expects a meeting with the state to be scheduled within the next six weeks. "We're going to bring people from all over the state and let them speak. We'll identify the top issues and go from there."