Richard Ferruccio resigns as President For the past 9 years Richard has led the Brotherhood in its fight to promote and advance the overall wellbeing of Correctional personnel. On November 9th he resigned from the longest reign as president of RIBCO for personal reasons. In his resignation letter he thanked all members who have given him advice, lent support to fight the fight and to his success. He asked all members to support Dave Mellon as President so he may continue to allow the Brotherhood to be one of the most respected Unions in the State of RI. Robert Miller will now succeed to the office of 1st Vice President and Robert Lantagne has been elected to the position of 2nd Vice President. Bob has been a member of the RIBCO Executive Board for many years and a union Steward at Maximum Security to name a few of his contributions to the Brotherhood.
Contract Negotiations RIBCO has begun negotiations for the Rank and File and Supervisory units for a successor agreement to the contract that expired on June 30, 2006. We have had a number of meetings with the State with more scheduled during the month of November. We have received a number of inquiries asking if director Wall is participating in contract negotiations due to his comments in a June 30th memo in which he stated, ”It is my hope we can return to the bargaining table very shortly and negotiate a deal that will cover the period July 1, 2006, going forward…My goal is to work together, engaging in meaningful give-and-take through the negotiating process rather than putting our fate in the hands of a third party over whom we have no control”. The answer is ‘no’ director Wall is not participating in contract negotiations. We will continue our efforts to reach and secure the best contract for our members without givebacks. The state is determined to take us back 20 years with respect to our working conditions. We are looking to go forward. We have to maintain competitive pay with other law enforcement agencies if we are going to attract and retain good people. Raises mean very little if they are eaten up by increased health premiums.
Election Results We would like to thank everyone who voted in the recent election. Our endorsed candidates in the RI General Assembly did extremely well with 96 out of 103 winning election. The push by the Republican party to gain seats failed miserably by them actually losing 8 seats.
Job Well Done Congratulations to Officers Tyler Jackson and Mike Lavallee for apprehending a patient that had escaped from the IMH and was returned to the State Police.
Executive Board Elections
The following members were elected to the Executive Board on November 13th; Mike McKenna, Byron Blackmar and Jim Stringfellow.
RIBCO Events December 12th, RIBCO Adult Christmas Party. Tickets at union office or call Dave @ 462-1399. Deadline for tickets – Dec. 1st.
