July 12, 2010
Hello, Hello, is this thing on?? by Stephanie B.
Hello, Hello, is this thing on?? (said the psychologically and financially battered, bruised, and abused wife to a state correctional officer)
This is a letter to get someone's attention! This is a letter to serve as a last desperate attempt to get someone to listen! This is a letter to expose corruption and favoritism! This is a letter to tell MY story! And, this is a letter to get SOMEONE, ANYONE, and our Governor to LISTEN!
Our Family will be losing our home if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger continues with his demand to pay the minimum wage for my husband. I have sat back long enough watching the state of California use and abuse the state workers, ESPECIALLY the California State Correctional Officers. Correctional Officers risk their lives every day against criminals, murderers, psychos, and a multitude of other uneducated gangsters and felons only to be looked down upon and not recognized for the courage they display on a daily basis. Not only do they face the danger, they have, for the last several years, been squashed day in and day out by the vice held in the hands of the state government and the state legislature. The politics are squeezing them and their families from every angle, and they can be squeezed no more! My husband has been a correctional officer for 11 years, has served this state and his institutions fairly, firmly, and understandingly for those years. He is also a dedicated husband, and father to a 3 year old son, and 2 year old daughter, all of whom rely on him daily as our main financial support for our family.
There are so many issues here I don't even know where to begin.
Firstly, when the furlough days were announced long long ago (aka 18 months ago) we didn't know how we would survive on one furlough day, let alone 3! With each announcement of one more furlough day and another 5% ding in our check book, we took it standing up, and with our game face on, and said "well, one way or another God will find a way". That is a saying I firmly believe in, and firmly live by every day as I now struggle to support my family emotionally and financially through this hard economic time only made worse by the poor decisions made by our governor. I celebrated, and rejoiced on June 30, 2010 when the last furlough day had finally arrived. Only to be knocked down, thrown on my face, squashed, yet again by the poor decision of the governor when the order came to announce federal minimum wage pay for my husband, the correctional officer. This is a maximum weekly pay of $455/week. Now, oh educated and wise governor of our great state, please tell me what you would do, how you would live, how you would send your child to preschool, feed and clothe your children, and pay your mortgage on $455/week? If you have a fantastic solution I'm sure I would be open to it at this point in my life. The governor states that "the law is the law", but why then, do I ask, are the 6 bargaining units that struck a "tentative" deal with the state exempt from minimum wage? The LAW, as the governor suggests, does not state that any units that have a tentative agreement in place are exempt from minimum wage, it states that in the absence of a budget, ALL state employees must go to minimum wage with the exception of those employees are not entitled to any pay at all. Well, if "the law is the law", as the governor suggests, why are those bargaining units exempt? As suggested by several media outlets, the governor is using the minimum wage threat as a bargaining tool for the other unions that fail to accept any poor offer submitted by the state. We realize that our federal and state economies are in dire conditions and each and every person as an American Citizen are not only embarrassed to be a part of this state, let alone country, but are suffering as a whole. Even in the midst of our poor financial situation, we still, help those less fortunate than us in any and every way we can.
What he is doing is illegal, unjust, and just plain mean! How in the world can he expect us to survive?! Now, the Golden 1 Credit Union, to which we and many other state workers belong, is offering; low or no interest loans to cover the difference in pay while the fabulous governor is giving us the pay he thinks we so deserve. In order to be eligible for these loans, you must have a checking account, AND have direct deposit. Are you ready?? Here's the kicker! With the new regulations that our fabulous governor has put in place, a correctional officer must have so many sick hours banked in order to be eligible for direct deposit well, as I mentioned my husband has a wife and 2 children to care for and often times if our toddlers are sick, so are we, and even if we aren't, we are forced to stay home with them to take care of them. Needless to say, he does not have the mandatory banked sick hours built up to be eligible for direct deposit, making us ineligible for a loan to cover the difference should the minimum wage order follow through. Ready for another kicker??!!! Here we go.. ..we filed a bankruptcy last year because, well, with all the furloughs, and the decline in overtime shifts, our income has decreased by 35%, and we were no longer financially able to afford our bills. So our credit would never be high enough for a loan from the bank. Everything that we can do, we've done, every time we try to get ahead, the governor and his administration kick us down, and remind us that's where we belong. Is this embarrassing to admit? Yes! Is it embarrassing when my 3 year old knows all about money, and if we have none, we can't go to the grocery store? Yes! Is it harder than ever to allow this story to become public knowledge? Yes! But what is a wife to do when the government my husband so loyally serves is beating us down with their own baton, and squashing the living life out of us in its vice.
Secondly, all the new laws and regulations that the governor has crushed us with have been unfair, unjust, and down right illegal. The new overtime rules, and way of accruing overtime is COMPLETELY illegal. If an employee has sick time and/or vacation time that they have accrued over their time of working, they ARE entitled to using it! They are also entitled to getting overtime pay when working more than 8 hours in a day! CO's get no lunch break, and work in a dangerous institution that has to be run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without regard to holidays or special occasions. Additionally, taking away holiday pay for working on federal holidays is illegal! How can these rules just be changed by one ignorant celebrity!? And, how can overtime pay just be taken away, if that person has a sick child that they need to stay home with one day? Unjust? Yes! Unfair? Yes? Illegal? Yes!
Lastly, politicians are making policies for an institution of which most, if not all, of them have NEVER been inside. They are unaware of the dangers, the procedures, and the fact that once inside those prison walls, you are no longer in the regular world, you are in the prison's world, and there my friend are rules and regulations all of their own, that a regular civilian would NEVER understand...not even myself fully understands. So why I ask, are those the people making decisions, when there is no way they can possibly understand.
Someone has to have a voice, and that someone is me!! Someone has to stand up for the others who can't speak for themselves, don't know how to speak for themselves, or are too scared to speak for themselves, and that person is me!! Someone who teaches their children fairness, sharing, manors, and rules, must call out those who cheat, lie, steal, and manipulate..and...THAT PERSON IS ME!!!
I'm praying and begging that my story is being heard. I'm praying and begging that you good people will help me get my story out there. I'm praying and hoping that someone out there who has a voice will help me get to the right people. And, I'm praying and hoping that you, Arnold Schwarzenegger, are listening, because I want to talk to you! I want to show you I'm a real person! I want you to meet the family, whose lives you are running into the ground! And, you, oh great Arnold Schwarzenegger, I want you to meet my husband, the correctional officer, who is not only smart and educated, but who has been serving this state for 11 years, risking his life so that you can live safely. You should think twice next time you feel safe in your home because criminals are behind bars, you should think twice before judging a job you have never done yourself, and you should think twice about judging a book by its cover.
Please contact me at any of the following contacts, as I am not starved for media attention, but simply need to get my story heard….I have been silent long enough. Please find it in your hearts to help me.
Stephanie B.
Wife of Correctional Officer Aaron B.
