By Corrections1 Staff
OKLAHOMA CITY — As teachers in Oklahoma participate in a walkout to demand more school funding, Oklahoma DOC workers feel their needs are being ignored
On Tuesday, teachers gathered at Oklahoma’s state capital and packed the rotunda as they told lawmakers about overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating buildings and low wages, KOSU reports. Other state employees, including workers at the DOC, say they’re hurting as much as teachers.
Corporal Paul Mullaney and Sergeant Jason Page who work at a correctional center also came to the Capitol’s rotunda to tell legislators they deserve higher pay and feel underappreciated.
In Oklahoma, the starting pay for COs is just under $13 per hour. Officers said the low pay is one of the main reasons staffing at the state’s prisons is worsening.
The officers said the teachers’ walkout is drowning their voices because COs can’t walk off the job like teachers can.
“We took an oath when we graduated from the academy … and we have too much respect to walk out,” Page said.
State corrections officials said facilities are severely understaffed. In March, the department needed 728 new COs to fill open positions. More than half of new hires from early 2017 have since left the agency.
Mullaney and Page feel their needs have been ignored for more than a decade. Page, who has 12 years of service, said took him five years to have the position he has now. He can’t see himself quitting any time soon.
“I love my job. I’m so damn passionate about my job. I’m invested. I can’t just leave like these young officers can. I can’t just throw it away,” he said.
Mullaney, who’s worked for the state for 14 years, said he recently became fed up and put in his two weeks notice before he “took it back.”
“That’s how tired people are,” Mullaney said.
Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill that’ll give public employees, including COs, who make up to $40,000 a year a $2,000 raise, according to KFOR. The officers remain skeptical about the bill.