While unemployment in the private sector is at historic lows, in the public sector, it’s a whole different ball game. Essential public employees in corrections and the state’s health care agencies left state employment in droves during the pandemic, leaving big holes in staffing levels.
In the Department of Developmental Disabilities, for example, the staff vacancy rate is at a shocking 40 percent. That’s why Mount Vernon Developmental Center employees from Dixie Chapter 4220 donned t-shirts this week with a message that mandatory overtime is keeping employees away from their families, and that it’s unacceptable.
Chapter President Jeana Campolo said MVDC staff there are at a breaking point and work on average 60 hours a week. She said the shirt was a way to say “we are in this together and to let management know this is affecting employees’ lives in a major way.”
Although MVDC continues to hire Therapeutic Program Workers (TPWs), the mandatory overtime makes the job less attractive for those who remain, Jeana explained. “They’ll hire in like three to six TPWs, but, when they hit the floor, three more are leaving,” she said. MVDC currently has 46 vacancies.
She said the local union chapter is doing everything it can to keep engaging management and pushing them to get employees relief. “We’re obviously pushing for more help from ancillary departments and management to take shifts and help relieve stress on direct care,” said Jeana. She said they have continuous discussions with management about recruiting more staff and that efforts are now being made to get the word out about direct care jobs at county fairs, in movie advertising and on billboards. “We’re just really trying to work together to get through a tough time,” she said.
Pictured are Barb Fry; Anya Cannon and Penny Board; Bonnie Coventry, Amy Snell; Jeana Campolo, Rebecca May and Tiffany Lewis; Jaci Bywaters and Jarrod Gump; Erica Cline and Joyce Fawcett.