His family, friends and legions of his coworkers have never forgotten the young man and his loss, and have labored through the years to offer fitting tributes to his life.

Now, a segment of State Route 1 between Vandenberg Air Force Base and the turnoff to the Lompoc penitentiary at Santa Lucia Canyon Road will soon bear the designation "Federal Correctional Officer Scott Williams Memorial Highway."

The designation comes by the way of a state Senate resolution carried by Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, and Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, R-San Luis Obispo, and was heavily supported by a number of peace officer organizations.

"We can only hope that this small tribute to Officer Williams and his family serves as a reminder of his sacrifice and that the safety of all our law enforcement officers is a matter of statewide and national concern," the resolution states.

Officer Williams, who served in Operation Desert Storm and was once named "Marine of the Year," was married to his Lompoc High School sweetheart, Kristy, and was the father of 6-year-old Kaitlin and 11-month-old Kallee. The family lived in Los Alamos.

"Officer Williams was taken from his family far too soon and this bill is a way to honor and remember the contributions he made to our country and our community," Mr. Strickland said on the floor of the state Senate. "His passing is a tragic reminder that law enforcement officers serve the public and risk their lives for us on a daily basis and I can only hope this small tribute to Officer Williams serves as a reminder of his sacrifice to our community."

Barry Fredieu, president of Local 3048 of the American Federation of Government Employees at the penitentiary, worked with Officer Williams and has sought recognition for his colleague through the years, including helping build a memorial park to Officer Williams near the penitentiary staff housing.

On Tuesday, knowing Sen. Strickland's bill had just been passed into law, Mr. Fredieu retired after almost 25 years with the federal penitentiary system.

The knowledge that the highway designation was coming, he said, was the best retirement present he could imagine.

"For me, it's really a lasting tribute for Scott and his family, that's the way I look at it," said Mr. Fredieu. "We built the park (on penitentiary property) but people have to come in to see the park, as opposed to this highway, which is forever. The staff is going to see it, the local community is going to drive by it. Thousands of people are driving this highway each and every day. That's a more visible tribute."

The officer's widow, Mr. Fredieu said, would ideally like to see the sign dedication for the highway next April, on the 15th anniversary of Officer Williams' death. As required by law, the two highway signs were paid for with donations, including from the local union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and the national peace officers' council.

"It seemed like the right thing to do," said Ryan Sherman, spokesman for the CCPOA, who helped navigate the resolution through the legislature. "It was a way to honor Scott and his memory, instead of letting things disappear."

It was especially fitting, he said, because of the recent decision involving the inmate caught on surveillance tape killing Officer Williams. Inmate Roy C. Green, who had strapped two homemade knives to his arms, stabbed Officer Williams in the neck, and seriously injured another officer by stabbing him in the chest. Three other officers, coming to the aid of the fallen men, were slightly injured.

Mr. Green, also known as Haneef Bilal, was charged with one count of murder within the jurisdiction of the United States, one count of murder of a correctional officer, three counts of assault with intent to murder and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm.

For most of the years since the officer's death, Mr. Green, who has pleaded innocent, has been confined at a federal medical referral center in North Carolina. Defense attorneys have said that Mr. Green has an IQ bordering on mental retardation.

Recently, Mr. Green was civilly committed and will remain in Bureau of Prisons custody for the remainder of his life.

"When they finally got the news that he (Green) was certified into the civil commitment program, and that there's not going to be a trial, he's not going to be convicted, this (the road) was a way to honor Scott and his memory, instead of letting things disappear," Mr. Sherman explained. "Now that there was finality to the legal portion of it, we're stepping up and doing a little bit to recognize his sacrifice."

Western Regional Caucus

The 2011 annual caucus will be held May 9-13 at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, NV. This will make the third consecutive year at the GN. More information concerning reservations will be made available as contract details are finalized.

FCI Mendota

The first IF Class took place on July 19, 2010 at USP Atwater. Don Martin, LP Atwater presented the Union's portion of the class. He has already signed up several members, and soon we'll have the ten needed to charter the new Local. A charter number has been obtained from AFGE, which is Local 1237, FCI Mendota. Subsequent classes are scheduled. Thanks Don for taking care of business!

Unicor Closures/Reductions

On July 17, 2010 staff were notified of numerous Unicor closures and reductions nation wide. In the Western Region; the cable factory at Lompoc is closing affecting approximately 14 bargaining unit employees, complete closure at Herlong affecting 12, Victorville is losing 11 positions, and Phoenix and Tucson are losing one position each. The agency has denied the Union's request to bargain, and an unfair labor practice has been filed (attached). The links below are informative and may help answer some of the many questions.

LMR

A national LMR meeting is scheduled for August 25 & 26, 2010 in Washington D.C. The agency denied the Union's request to extend the meeting by one day to decrease the back log of issues.

Master Agreement Negotiations

Bargaining will resume in Washington D.C. the week of August16, 2010 after ratification failed a year ago.

News Article from San Diego

"The New Breed of Federal Inmates"
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/public_safety/article_b9459aba-9dd7-11df-9cba-001cc4c002e0.html

Regional Grievances

Local Presidents at Herlong, Terminal Island, and Phoenix attempted to exercise their right to designate themselves or a representative to day watch and were denied because the designee was in Correctional Services, and was expected to rotate shifts. When taken to the regional director, he supported the wardens' decisions, as did the Chief of LMR, Joey Meade. To me, this is a perfect example of the frivolity of managements arguments. The highlighted section speaks for itself. This should never have to go to arbitration because the language is clear and unambiguous. The grievance was denied and is pending arbitration.

Article 11, Training Management at the local and regional levels refuse to comply with the contract which allows for reasonable official time for training purposes. Regional Director McFadden refuses to comply with the contract and statute concerning official time and allows his subordinate wardens to do the same. He allows managers to submit union representatives and attendees to unreasonable scrutiny when requesting to attend union training on official time. This grievance arises from RVP steward training for Lompoc, AFGE training for Sheridan, and the RVP request for official time for the regional caucus. The grievance was denied and is pending arbitration.

Policy Selection Grievance(s)

Policy ground rules dictate that locations for meetings alternate between D.C. and in the field. When in the field, it alternates among the regions to choose a location. June was my turn to choose and I chose Honolulu, since we have never had a national meeting there and it would coincide with AFGE District 12 Training. The agency denied the selection, even though our ground rules are clear. National officers have selected Hawaii in the past and it was denied as well, even though they've held LMR and policy in Puerto Rico. Dwayne Person, Policy Chair filed a national grievance, and Mike Meserve, LP at FDC Honolulu is filing for violations at the local level.

On a better note, the policy negotiations for the Employee Health Program Statement was held at MDC Los Angeles the week of June 28, 2010. Warren Mollow, LP at MDC LA was a great host and was also involved in the negotiations. Sean Wilson, LP at FCI Herlong represented the West in my seat as a subject matter expert. Thanks Warren and Sean!

Local 1242, USP Atwater on a Roll

Overtime

In an award dated June 7, 2010, an arbitrator found in favor of Local 1242, USP Atwater, CA in an overtime dispute. The Arbitrator upheld the grievance, awarded back pay, ordered the Agency to work with the Union to resolve the exact amounts owed to each employee, and ordered the Agency to train three Union officials on how to read and understand the overtime roster program to help them monitor it in the future.

Portal (from the decision) The union alleged that the agency violated the FLSA by failing to pay correctional officers for overtime work. The arbitrator found that the officers were required to work more than a de minimis amount of time in excess of their regular shift, performing work that was integral and indispensable to their principal work. The arbitrator determined that the amount of excess time worked was roughly 30 minutes per day, and that the agency neither compensated officers for this time, nor devised an overlapping shift program to relieve officers of pre-shift work. Finding that management was aware since at least 2002 that a portal-to-portal issue existed at the relevant facility, the arbitrator concluded that the agency's violation was willful. He awarded 30 minutes of overtime pay to the correctional officers for a period of three years preceding the grievance, plus interest and attorney's fees.

The agency argued that the award was contrary to the FLSA because the arbitrator applied a three-year, instead of a two-year, limitations period on the back pay award. The agency contended that its conduct was not willful, so the three-year limitations period didn't apply.

The FLRA stated that it will not consider any issue which could have, but was not presented to the arbitrator. Here, the FLRA observed that the agency didn't respond to union arguments that the violation was willful, requiring a three-year limitations period. This failure of the agency to make its case for a two-year limitations period before the arbitrator meant that the FLRA was obligated to dismiss the exception. May 27, 2010