August 19, 2010 - Concord, NH:  The always accessible New Hampshire Governor John Lynch met with the leadership of the New England PBA on Wednesday, to hear concerns regarding several issues affecting our NH law enforcement locals.  Meeting in the Governor’s inner office with the Governor, were NEPBA Executive Director Jerry Flynn, Executive Vice-President William Ryan and NH Legislative and Organizing Director Steve Arnold and NEPBA Local 250 President Justin Jardine with Governor Lynch and his Chief of Staff Rich Siegel. Headlining the issues were the harsh, unfair and anti-union treatment of our members inflicted by the beleaguered Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn.

Recently, Commissioner Wrenn has come under fire by Flynn and the New England PBA, who have demanded his removal over a myriad of issues, primarily to include the allowance of convicted cop killer and death row inmate Michael Addison’s ability to work on his tier, allowing the most dangerous man within the NH prison system out of his cell to conduct menial tasks.  

In a response to the letter to the Governor authored by Executive Director Flynn calling for Wrenn’s removal due to the mismanagement of the only person on death row in the Granite State.  Flynn also pointed out to the Governor that Wrenn’s comments to the media were totally unacceptable and completely off base. Commissioner Wrenn  was quoted in the Manchester Union Leader newspaper as saying that "As far as his behavior, his attitude, his conduct, he has been very, very good.”

 Governor Lynch responded, in kind, to Mr. Flynn’s passionate objection to Wrenn’s deplorable statement, to which the Governor stated that he has a close relationship with the family of Michael Briggs, the Manchester Police Officer murdered by Addison, especially his young sons who Lynch said “will never grow up with their father.”  Mr. Flynn told the Governor that “he [Wrenn] has one, just one, inmate in the state of New Hampshire that needs to be ‘caged’ for 23 hours a day and only allowed to exercise in another ‘cage’ for the remaining hour - and Commissioner Wrenn failed in that responsibility.”

In other prison related matters, acting Local 250 Union President Justin Jardine who oversees the nearly 500 member Union attended this meeting telling the Governor firsthand of the deplorable conditions within the NH prison system. President Jardine told the Governor that the unjust suspensions of Jeffrey Bettez and Union President Mark Jordan have deeply affected the morale of the men and women inside the walls. Last week the NH Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) ruled that Wrenn’s suspension of Bettez (now 8 months) and Jordan (now 6 months) were egregious and ordered their immediate reinstatement with back pay and the reinstatement of their health insurance, an order Wrenn has arrogantly ignored.

These suspensions have nearly bankrupted the families of Mr. Bettez and Mr. Jordan. To add to the already unjust treatment, Wrenn ordered that the officer’s health insurance be cancelled. In a parting comment on the matter, Steve Arnold, who was the President of the New Hampshire Police Association at the time of Wrenn’s appointment, stated that he felt “betrayed” by Wrenn who assured proponents of his appointment that he wanted a fresh start and would work with the Union at the prison, unlike his notorious anti-union reputation when serving as the Chief of Police in Hampton.

Arnold reminded the Governor that one year ago the Union met with him to express the frustrations in dealing with Wrenn yet the relationship has progressively worsened; Arnold said “the prison is worse off now than it was under the previous commissioner whom the Governor replaced with Wrenn.”

Acting President Jardine informed the Governor of the forced overtime being inflicted on the members occurring sometimes up to 3 times a week. By the Governor’s own calculations it appeared that on average corrections officers are working nearly 160 hours of overtime per month, much of it ‘forced’. Jardine went on to tell the Governor that each time you go to work, you never know, but have come to expect, you will likely be held over your scheduled shift due to the undermanned prison staff.

Executive Vice President Bill Ryan informed Governor Lynch that Commissioner Wrenn may have conspired with the NH Personnel Director to circumvent language in the CBA that gives Local 250 members the right to use their seniority to bid on jobs within Concord Prison. 

Commissioner Wrenn made repeated requests to NEPBA Local 250’s E-Board to water down the “Lateral Transfer” language so he could move officers from one post to another more freely.  Executive Vice President William Ryan and Local 250 President Justin Jardine informed Commissioner Wrenn that the Union members were not interested in changing the current language, but that he could certainly make a proposal at the ongoing contract negotiations as part of a larger package.

Bill Ryan informed the Governor that Commissioner Wrenn was not happy with the Local’s answer and may have conspired with the NH Personnel Director to circumvent the CBA by developing then implementing a so called “Reorganizational Plan” which stripped our members of their right to bid on certain jobs within the Concord Prison as clearly outlined in the contract.

Governor Lynch seemed extremely concerned that one of his Commissioners would act in such a manner.

Finally, Director Steve Arnold raised the ongoing frustrations of collective bargaining by telling the Governor that the New England PBA did not go along with the impasse enacted by the State Employees Union, yet the SEA has since had their contract ratified along with a highly publicized signing ceremony. The members of the New England PBA state locals, led by State Director and Chief Negotiator Ron Scaccia, have been extremely accommodating to the state and have worked hard to get the lingering contracts established and signed.

After taking extensive notes on the issues at hand, Governor Lynch assured the Union that he would address these matters and thanked us for our service.  As always the gentleman, Governor John Lynch escorted us to the door and reiterated that he thinks of the family of Michael Briggs regularly and understands how deeply the issue affects not only the Brigg’s family - but all of us.