For those of us who like to see California dollars kept in California, it is bad enough that several hundred state correctional officers will be visiting Las Vegas for their union's annual convention, beginning Aug. 16.

But here's the kicker: We'll be paying for their time while they're on the junket. The prison officers will be on paid leave when they go, because of a unique provision in the California Correctional Peace Officers Association's contract.

The union negotiated with the state to add this benefit to its contract in 1999 in place of a scheduled salary increase. Instead of a pay raise or more paid vacation days, a limited number of members received the option of three days of paid "activist release time," which can be used for attending the convention or other purposes.

The prison officers' contract expired in 2006. But soon after Gov. Jerry Brown took office, he and his director of personnel administration – Ron Yank, a retired labor lawyer who previously worked for CCPOA – negotiated a new one, which kept the provision for activist release time. The item should not have been on the bargaining table in the first place.

In an interview this week, Yank defended the provision, saying it helps CCPOA members engage in the democratic process of selecting its leadership.

That justification doesn't wash. For years, the CCPOA has used the convention as a rally in support of existing leadership and a launching pad for its agenda. At the 2008 convention, also in Las Vegas, President Mike Jimenez promised to take former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "to the mat" in a recall bid.

Indeed, for rank-and-file CCPOA members who can't attend the convention, the activist release time is anything but democratic. Many of them would probably like to end this provision in exchange for a simple pay raise or some other benefit that would help all union members.

Union members certainly have the right to organize and influence voters and legislators. Public money, however, should not be used to support activism by union members or anyone else. Paying members while they're at a convention is very different from paying union officials while they're at the bargaining table, where fairness demands that negotiators on both sides have reasonably stable personal finances.

When the CCPOA's contract expires in 2013, whoever is governor should insist that the union be treated like other state employee unions, which are required to reimburse the state for salary paid to employees who are taking off work to engage in political activities.

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