U.S. Congress Honors Corrections Officers & Personnel

May 21, 2007

HONORING OUR BEST. COs from all over the country gather around Bridgette Duncan (front, center holding plaque) of Orient, Ohio, who is a member of Local 6550 of OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11. She was voted “ACU Officer of the Year.”

Photo Credit:

Jon Melegrito

n recognition of  “National Correctional Officers and Employees Week,” held annually during the first week in May, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 264 on May 7 “honoring the service of correctional officers and employees.”

Introduced by Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.), chairman of the Congressional Correctional Officers Caucus, the resolution noted that “the operation of correctional facilities represents a crucial component of the criminal justice system of the United States.” COs, it said, “play a vital role in protecting the public from criminal activity.”

On May 9, more than 30 ACU members lobbied their representatives on Capitol Hill to enlist support for a collective bargaining bill (H.R. 980) and an anti-prison privatization measure (H.R. 1890).

“It’s been shown that public safety services are delivered promptly when we can discuss workplace conditions through improved labor/management relations,” says CO Ricco DiPietro of Bush, La., a member of Local 3686 (Council 17). “We definitely need a collective bargaining bill in our state.”

“It is crucial that core correctional services are not provided by private firms,” adds CO David Moffa of Middlebury, Conn., and a member of Council 4’s Local 387. “This anti-privatization bill puts community safety first over profits.”