In observance of National Correctional Officers and Employees Week (May 6-12), we honor the tens of thousands of AFSCME members across the country who keep our communities safe by putting their lives on the line every day.

We are proud of the extraordinary service provided by the 62,000 corrections officers and 23,000 corrections employees represented by AFSCME Corrections United (ACU).

Yet, these officers continue to be used as scapegoats by corporate-backed politicians who undervalue the difficult and dangerous work they do. Governors in Florida, Louisiana, Michigan and Ohio have brazenly attempted to privatize prisons even as evidence mounts that this jeopardizes prison safety and doesn’t save money. Corrections officers know about the greater threat of injury or death within prisons operated by for-profit companies.

But our members are fighting back. In Florida, AFSCME scored a major victory when we overcame overwhelming odds to beat back a prison privatization bill. Working in partnership with members of AFSCME Council 79 and other labor unions, we defeated Senate Bill 2038, which would have led to the largest expansion of private prisons in American history.

We stalled a move by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his allies to privatize a state prison.Working with a national coalition to fight prison privatization, our members flexed their muscles and raised a public outcry. We commend those courageous legislators, like Florida State Sen. Mike Fasano (a Republican), who oppose prison privatization because they value public safety more than the profit for private prison companies, which have engaged in pay-to-play politics.

During this week’s commemoration, we also pay homage to unsung heroes who continue to take risks and make ultimate sacrifices in the line of duty. One of our own, Sgt. Barbara Ester of Marianna, Ark., was simply doing her job when she was fatally stabbed to death early this year. Other members, like Michael Whitehead of Somers, Conn., saved a fellow officer’s life on the job.

“We will never forget the life-and-death struggles that define the vital service you provide,” Sec.-Treas. Lee Saunders said at last year’s Public Safety Congress. “Because we will never forget, we will continue the fight for the public safety officers on the job today.” Adds Pres. Gerald W. McEntee:  “The  courage and commitment shown by our members reflect what is best about our country.

We are 62,000 corrections officers and 23,000 corrections employees who have joined forces in AFSCME to fight for better pay and benefits, for safe workplaces and to uphold the standard of professionalism in our field.

Visit  http://www.afscme.org/union/jobs-we-do/corrections for additional information.

Dues are $38.00 per month, which includes full benefit of the Public Safety Protection Program.  See http://www.psoaa.org.

“Prison industry puts profits before public safety”

Statement of AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee on Prison Privatization:

“Yesterday, The New York Times offered further evidence of what we have known for years:  For-profit prisons often cost taxpayers more than the funding needed to run state prisons, even though the corporate prisons can cherry-pick the least costly inmates.  Prison privatization is bad public policy because the prison industry puts profits before public safety.  Prison privatization means high rates of violence, high staff turnover, lax security, and routine mismanagement. Too many politicians – including John Kasich in Ohio – are selling state prisons off – often in return for the corporate dollars that fund their campaigns.  Kasich claims that privatization ‘provides better services at a lower price,’ yet the evidence clearly points in the other direction.

“Sweetheart deals are not a solution to the budget problems facing states.  Instead, they create costs of their own.  AFSCME documented the flow of money from the corporate prison industry to politicians who support prison privatization in our recent report, ‘Making A Killing: How Prison Corporations Are Profiting from Campaign Contributions and Putting Taxpayers at Risk.’ It is time to end this failed social experiment and provide public correction departments with the resources they need to run secure state prisons.  Transferring millions of tax dollars to private companies is a waste of money and a proven mistake.  Prison privatization doesn’t work.  Taxpayers should not have to pay extra to line the pockets of the corporate CEOs who pay politicians to run them.”   

WHY WE'RE VOTING FOR AFSCME

testimonial.pdf

Recently, Minnesota COs won a major victory against privatization forces.  Unlike state- or locally-run facilities, private facilities don't have the same protections or transparencies that public corrections facilities do. 

By organizing together, the COs were able to protect their jobs and high professional standards are maintained in our industry.

Minnesota COs Beat Privateers / AFSCME Works Magazine, Jan. 11, 2010

In a major victory in AFSCME's fight against privatization, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) - the nation's largest owner and operator of private prisons - will shut down its Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, MN on Feb. 1. 

"This shutdown is a huge victory for us," says Eliot Seide, Council 5 executive director and an AFSCME International vice president. "We're pushing government to take responsibility for corrections, not pass the buck to private corporations that profit from prisons."

Adds Tim Henderson, a corrections officer and president of Local 2728, "We have been lobbying for a bill that will prevent our state from renting out its responsibilities. Our efforts are paying off. A growing number of legislators are now convinced that privateers shouldn’t profit from prisons."

The Appleton facility housed fewer than 250 inmates last year, in part because Minnesota is placing more offenders in state-run facilities. Prisoners from the privately-owned 1,600-bed jail will be transferred to a public detention complex in Faribault.

Henderson, chairman of Council 5's Corrections Policy Committee, adds that the next step is to help elect a labor-friendly governor this year.

In 2009, AFSCME members successfully blocked an attempt to shut down the state's Moose Lake prison and transfer its inmates to Appleton. "We've been at war with the privateers and we won't stop until Minnesota places all of its inmates in state-run corrections facilities," Henderson asserts. "That is our mission."

In 2008, CCA siphoned off $1.46 billion from taxpayers across the nation on its way to earning record profits of $151 million. CCA holds 75,000 inmates at more than 65 facilities it owns or operates in 19 states.