AFSCME in Chicago -- Fighting for Bulletproof Vests

August 07, 2006

Today, Dennis Morgan addressed the AFSCME 37th International Convention. Dennis is not a member of AFSCME, but he will always be a part of the AFSCME family. A year ago (August 9, 2005) his father, corrections officer Wayne “Cotton” Morgan, was gunned down by the wife of an inmate he was transferring from a courthouse in Kingston, TN. Officer Morgan was treasurer of AFSCME Local 2173. Officer Morgan’s death may have been prevented had he been provided with an appropriate bulletproof vest. Morgan’s repeated requests for a fitted vest were denied. So since his father’s death, Dennis has taken up a campaign with AFSCME to pass federal legislation that mandates providing bulletproof vests for corrections officers. Currently federal law requires state and local governments to pony up “matching funds” to equip officers with critical safety equipment. Thanks to the hard work of Dennis and AFSCME COs from across the country, Congressmen Ted Strickland (D-OH), Harold Ford (D-TN) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) introduced H.R. 4215, the Wayne “Cotton” Morgan Bulletproof Vest Act. The Bulletproof Vest Act now has a growing number of Democratic co-sponsors, but no Republicans.