Wisconsin COs Hope Pay Raises Attract County Applicants

AFSCME won average wage increases Jan. 8 of about $.85 an hour for 3,500 COs in Wisconsin Council 24 and its 17 locals. The raises are a substantial improvement for workers in early pay levels. Starting pay for entry-level COs was $9.44. Now they will receive $10.25 an hour. On July 4 all job classifications will move up one more pay level, adding another $.90 an hour to COs’ wages.

“We want to equal what the COs make in surrounding counties,” says Gary Lonzo, president of AFSCME Council 24 and CO at the Green Bay Correctional Institution. The average beginning wage is $11.72 for employees in county jails. “We want to attract county employees to work for the state, rather than what is happening now. We train COs and they jump ship to work in the counties.”