Philly correctional officers to get raises and bonuses amid continued staff shortage and turmoil in the jails

Hundreds of Philadelphia correctional officers will get 4.5% raises, retention pay, and signing bonuses this year in a deal reached between union leaders and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration.

The one-year agreement extends the existing contract for 1,100 correctional officers represented in Local 159 of AFSCME District Council 33, which negotiates separately from the umbrella union.

It comes amid a yearslong staffing crisis in the jails that’s been blamed for violent incidents and lengthy lockdowns. The jails are currently only staffed at 55% of their authorized capacity, a situation advocates say effectively violates inmates’ constitutional rights.

In a news conference announcing the contract extension Monday, Parker acknowledged the dire staffing conditions and said “no one is resting here.”

“No one thinks that because we got this [contract] extended for one year with these terms,” she said, “that we can stop working to make our prison system safer, better run, and more focused on giving the individuals incarcerated a chance at a better life when they return.”

Parker said hiring has already accelerated and she expects continued progress under new Commissioner Michael Resnick, who took over as head of the Department of Prisons earlier this year. Former Commissioner Blanche Carney retired in April amid a series of violent incidents, prisoner deaths, and escapes.

Resnick said he has hired a new director of recruiting and retention and is in the midst of an “aggressive” recruiting campaign. And he noted that as part of the agreement, the city is lifting its residency requirement for correctional officers until it reaches 80% of its authorized strength.

Most of the city’s workforce is required to live within city limits for at least one year prior to being hired, one of the strictest such rules in the country. The requirement first waived for some correctional officers in 2022 will now apply to all correctional officer hires, and anyone hired while it’s lifted may continue to live outside the city, even if it’s reinstated.

» READ MORE: Mayor Cherelle Parker wants to diversify the city’s workforce

When she was a member of City Council, Parker championed the residency requirement legislation that was adopted by City Council in 2020 as a means of diversifying the city’s workforce and building up the middle class. It includes a provision that allows the mayor to effectively waive it for any job specification.

Parker said she’s proud to have “put the waiver to good use.”

“This is the mayor saying that we will issue waivers until we are at a complement that is satisfactory for public health and safety,” she said.

Parker said the one-year contract extension allows her administration to prepare to enter into a multi-year contract “in the very, very near future.” The city has also reached one-year deals with the unions that represent police officers, firefighters, and sheriff’s deputies.

Administration officials are in the process of negotiating terms with AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47, the unions that represent thousands of municipal employees, including everyone from sanitation workers, to parks and recreation employees, to accountants and inspectors.