2018 NJ STATE PBA
Collective Bargaining Seminar
For Burlington County Corrections Local,
it’s back to the future
Even after 10 years of attending the Collective Bargaining
Seminar, Burlington County Corrections Officers Local 249 State
Delegate Terrance Benson still learns something new each time.
Because of the seminar, he’s able to answer common questions
from members who wonder why they’ve only been able to get a
2-percent raise or why more and more steps have been added to
the salary increase guide.
In Benson’s eyes, if new members are going to get involved in
the union, it’s crucial to stay informed with the changes in laws
and in municipality administrations. Beyond the commitment
he’s made to bring the resources back, Benson has made it his
goal to prepare future Local leaders.
“Our jails are experiencing a large turnover, and the new guys
are the future,” Benson noted. “You never want to lose what you
gained over the course of your career. You have to show (other
members) what’s going on. I want the junior guys to learn from
what we have done by coming down here (for the seminars).”
This year, 10 Local 249 members attended the seminar, in-
cluding Brian Phillips, who participated for the first time after
six years on the job. According to Benson, members like Phillips
are the future of the Local, and it’s never too soon to get involved
and informed.
Burlington County Corrections Local 249 members attend the Collective
Bargaining Seminar to prepare for future negotiations.
“There’s a lot you need to know, unless you plan on giving all
of your collective bargaining rights away,” Benson expressed.
“This is your future. You have to come down here and learn.” d
The ‘rookies’ from Mercer County Corrections
Mercer County Corrections Local 167 State Delegate Winslow
Land made an interesting observation about members who at-
tend the Collective Bargaining Seminar each year. While a good
percentage of attendees flip through the six-inch binder during
each information session, Land notes that veterans like himself
have gone digital.
“Us veterans call it a rookie binder,” quipped Land, who uses
the USB drive containing presentation information that the PBA
began making available at the 2017 seminar. “You don’t see any
veterans with the book. We’ve got the thumb drive.”
So when two newcomers from Local 167 joined Land for the
three-day seminar, he made sure that they were equipped with
the information-packed binder, a must-have for any member
who takes his or her first steps toward becoming more involved
with the union.
One of the rookie binder users was almost as rookie as they
come. Albert DiNatale, 22, said that even after recently graduat-
ing from the academy and just finishing his first year in correc-
tions, there is still much more to learn about his job.
“It was very informative to learn about planning for retire-
ment, and how to go about securing yourself between your sala-
ry and pension,” DiNatale shared. “Working out of any sector of
law enforcement, you put yourself into all sorts of dangers. You
need to start preparing today for tomorrow.”
Local 167 member Kenneth Bynum has nine years on the job
and is never afraid to ask questions, many of which were in-
spired by attending his first seminar.
“I like to educate myself as much as possible on anything and
everything that has to do with my job and how it affects me,”
Mercer County Corrections Local 167 members Kenneth Bynum and Albert
DiNatale and State Delegate Winslow Land (right) compare collective bar-
gaining study methods.
Bynum confirmed.
Land thought there was no better way for Bynum to explore
his curiosities than by attending the seminar.
“The ones who ask questions and the ones who try to be
involved, that’s who you bring to seminars like this,” Land ex-
plained. “They’re not quiet about the information they learn.
They’ll go back and spread the word to other members of our
Loc al.” d
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ FEBRUARY 2018 37