Prompted by recent layoffs and what it says is an increasingly dangerous work environment for its members, the union that represents more than 8,400 officers at Rikers Island and other city jails has begun a campaign to have the correction commissioner fired. þþThe union's new effort to remove Martin F. Horn, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's handpicked commissioner, is mostly an angry response to layoffs in May that claimed 315 correction officers' jobs. Other union and city officials said they did not give the campaign any chance of succeeding.þþBut the rift between the union, the New York City Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, and Mr. Horn is also surprising, considering how far Norman Seabrook, the union's president, has gone out of his way to forge a relationship with City Hall: he was the only city labor leader to endorse Mr. Bloomberg in 2001. þþÿThis commissioner is incompetent to run this agency,ÿ Mr. Seabrook said of Mr. Horn, who is also the city probation commissioner, in an interview this week. ÿHorn wants to be the guy to sit at City Hall and say, `See what I did?' I'm going after the commissioner because he has a fiduciary responsibility to protect the safety of correction officers and inmates, and he's not doing that.ÿþþIn case his members have not gotten the message, the union's monthly newsletter, published this week, features a large cover photo of Mr. Horn with a thick red line through it, alongside the headline ÿIt's time to go!ÿ þþMr. Seabrook, who was overwhelmingly elected to a third four-year term in June, said he also had a letter delivered to Mayor Bloomberg last week urging him to get rid of Mr. Horn. As of yesterday, there had been no response, Mr. Seabrook said.þþMr. Horn's spokesman, Thomas Antenen, said the vitriol from the union is a reaction to layoffs that nearly every city agency except the Police and Fire Departments have had to accept. þþÿIt's obviously the voice of frustration from Mr. Seabrook,ÿ Mr. Antenen said. ÿHe's obviously upset at not being successful at averting the layoffs.ÿþþIn December, when Mayor Bloomberg named Mr. Horn commissioner, Mr. Seabrook voiced at least tepid support. ÿIf he does what he's supposed to do,ÿ Mr. Seabrook told The Daily News, ÿI guess we'll get along fine.ÿþþThe campaign to remove Mr. Horn from his post, or at least show union members that the correction commissioner with an affinity for shaking things up should not be trusted, reflects frustration on several levels. Attacks on prison guards have increased by about 20 percent since Commissioner Horn took over in January, Mr. Seabrook said, a direct result of jobs lost through layoffs, at least 84 of which involved direct supervision of inmates. Several days ago, an inmate at Rikers Island stabbed another inmate, Mr. Seabrook said, an incident that probably would not have happened before the May layoffs.þþMr. Antenen, the commissioner's spokesman, said yesterday that there was no record of a recent stabbing. He also noted that the city's jail population, 13,669 inmates, is the lowest in 15 years, not counting the days immediately following the Sept. 11 terror attack.þþÿWhen the numbers are down like that, you're going to have some change in the system,ÿ Mr. Antenen said. Violent acts in city jails, he added, have declined by more than 90 percent over the last decade. þþMr. Seabrook said his members were also angry with Mr. Horn's disciplinary changes, including placing officers found violating regulations on probation, which makes firing them easier. Also, instead of issuing 60-day suspensions, Mr. Seabrook said, Mr. Horn favors keeping the officer on the job but eliminating his or her vacation days for up to three years. ÿWho the hell works three years without a vacation, in a jail?ÿ Mr. Seabrook asked. þþ
Source: NY Times
