Corrections officer Ton Johnson, a member of King County Local 308 (Washington Council 28), is this year’s recipient of AFSCME’s Corrections Officer of the Year award.

National Correctional Officers and Employees Week (May 2 through 8) is the time set aside to honor the courageous, dedicated women and men who help keep our communities safe. But this year, as states look for ways to cut their budgets, it’s worth noting some of the issues these AFSCME members are facing:

• In Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn wanted to lay off 2,500 public service positions, including 1,000 corrections workers. It took a lawsuit by AFSCME Council 31 to stop him.
• Corrections officers represented by Mansfield Correctional Institution Chapter 7010 and Southern Ohio Correctional Facility Chapter 7330 of Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA)/AFSCME Local 11 have been picketing around security issues as a result of historic overcrowding and the elimination of 1,000 corrections officer positions statewide.

That’s why we are urging Congress to pass the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009 (H.R. 413/S. 3194). The bill establishes minimum state collective bargaining standards for corrections officers, police, emergency medical technicians and firefighters.

This week, national steering committee members of AFSCME Corrections United (ACU) are in Washington, DC, encouraging lawmakers to support the bill. AFSCME represents 62,000 corrections officers and 23,000 corrections employees nationwide.

Also this week, AFSCME International Pres. Gerald W. McEntee will present ACU’s Corrections Officer of the Year award to Ton Johnson, a member of the Community Corrections Bargaining Unit Political Action Team of Local 308 (AFSCME Council 28). He is being recognized for the many efforts on behalf of his union members, including improving personal safety standards involving defensive tactics training.

Read more about corrections issues in the latest ACU News.

Thousands of AFSCME members across the country, working in both maximum- and minimum-security facilities, state prisons and county jails, keep our communities safe by putting their lives on the line every day.

They are people like Daniel Meehan, a corrections sergeant at the Waupun Correctional Facility in Wisconsin and AFSCME’s Corrections Officer of the Year last year. A CO for 27 years, Meehan has mentored hundreds of young officers. As president of Local 18 (Council 24), he energized his co-workers to engage in political action, such as fighting anti-labor initiatives or budget battles in the state legislature.

When one of his co-workers was falsely accused with a felony charge, Meehan created a defense fund to defray his legal expenses and pushed for remedial legislation to address the statutory travesty of a “John Doe” investigation. Also, during a hostage crisis, Meehan assisted the warden and command staff at the Waupun facility to negotiate the safe release of the corrections officer who was being held.

AFSCME salutes these brave men and women:

“This week is National Corrections Officers Week when we recognize the extraordinary service provided by corrections officers across the United States. These men and women are doing a difficult and important job in our criminal justice system — safeguarding the public from those who would do us harm. Too often, their voice and experience are undervalued by those in government who seek to privatize their jobs or cut their pay and benefits. More than 85,000 corrections officers and corrections employees have joined forces with AFSCME to fight for safe workplaces, better pay and benefits and to uphold the standard of professionalism. We are proud of the work they do, day in and day out. We salute their service and will continue to fight for them and the valuable work they do for all of us.”

— AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee

Corrections officers, child care providers, first responders, health care workers and now bank employees. That’s right, bank employees. Meet the new members of the 1.4 million AFSCME family in one of our latest Online Xtras detailing how 500 tellers and other white-collar employees of U.S. Bank in Milwaukee voted overwhelmingly to join AFSCME Council 48.

While you’re at it, check out the latest on AFSCME members in action as corrections officers from Local 3361 (Council 75) in
Oregon fight to secure safer conditions at work – and win.