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California Prison Guard Union Approves Pay Raise

SACRAMENTO (CBS/AP) -- Leaders of the union representing most state prison guards have given tentative approval to a two-year contract containing a 4 percent pay raise.

The raise would start in 2015 under the agreement approved Saturday by directors of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The union's 30,000 members have yet to vote.

Union spokesman JeVaughn Baker said Monday that guards also will begin paying half their retirement costs.

The contract gives the state flexibility to move guards to prisons where they are needed most as it juggles the inmate population to meet federal court orders.

It also requires that guards be paid overtime after a 41-hour workweek, which likely means higher costs for the state. Guards currently receive overtime pay after working 164 hours in a 28-day period, which gives the corrections department more flexibility.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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