PROVIDENCE -- Contract talks between the state and the union representing Rhode Island's correctional officers have collapsed, union officials said.
Both sides failed to reach an agreement last Tuesday after three years of negotiations. The next step would be arbitration, said Michael Kraemer, chief labor negotiator retained by the state.
Union President Richard Ferruccio, of the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers, said the state is trying to impose different conditions for correctional officers from other state workers, such as a different standard for some health payments.
The union represents more than 1,300 officers and other prison workers, according to its Web site.
He also said the state does not recognize that correctional officers are exposed to greater stress and dangers than deputy sheriffs and need higher wages.
The starting pay for a corrections officer is $32,831, and climbs to a maximum of $46,568.
A state administrator said the union's characterization of the state's offer is inaccurate and misleading.
In a letter addressed to corrections staff, Ellen Evans Alexander, the assistant director of administration, said the state had proposed a five-year contract ending June 30, 2008, that had the same cost-of-living increases and health care contributions as a four-year contract that covers the other state unions.
The terms include 4 percent increases the first two years, and 3 percent increases the following two years. Union members would contribute 2.5 percent of their base salary toward health care premiums.
"The current breakdown in contract negotiations continues the leadership's 10-year history of inability to successfully negotiate a contract for the staff," Alexander wrote.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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