ACU Conference Unites Nation’s COs
AFSCME Corrections United’s (ACU) Fourth National Congress held Aug. 20 to 22 in Madison, Wis., reaffirmed that corrections officers need to sustain unity at a critical time when prison privatization is at the cusp of expansion.
AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee exhorted hundreds of corrections officers to combine their strengths because “either we stand together as a unified front to fight the battles that face us in the next two years, or we lose forever.” Lack of unity among COs, he warned, plays into the hands of major prison privateers.
He went on to say that the “splinter” groups trying to lure COs from the International’s ranks don’t have the political clout and power of AFSCME, and their long-term survivability is questionable. In the meantime, “if we are to ever achieve victory, we are going to have to change our tactics. And that is the entire purpose of this conference,” McEntee remarked.
Through a series of weekend workshops that covered topics such as prison privatization, lobbying, sudden in-custody death syndrome, gang recognition and dealing with mentally ill inmates, COs attending the conference were supplied with up-to-date information on the issues facing them. Infectious disease control and stress management seminars provided COs with information that will preserve their personal health. Conference attendees even learned how to communicate with the media in case of an incident at a corrections facility.
Wisconsin Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson also addressed the COs. The governor received instant approval when he exclaimed, “Private prisons can be located in other states, but not in Wisconsin. I’m a firm believer that when something works, why change it?
“I wanted to come here and tell you that you have a tough job and governors all over America have got to recognize that,” he continued. “What we want you to do is to be able to be safe in your workplace; we want you to be able to have the tools necessary to do your job; we want you to make sure that you can feel free and be independent enough to give us ideas and recommendations. Governors need to know what’s wrong — what works, what doesn’t work. You’re on the firing line day in and day out.”
Thompson explained that since he’s been governor, the number of COs has increased from 1,200 to 3,600 in Wisconsin. “Some people criticized me for that,” he said. “I said, ‘If you’re to pass tough laws and expect people to be in prison, you’re going to have to have safe working conditions and you’re going to have to have more correctional officers. If you want a safe state, we’re going to have build some more prisons and have more corrections officers. We’ve got to be able to educate them, we’re going to have to train them and we’re going to have to pay them. It’s as simple as that.’”
