Memo to Governor Perry: Wake Up!

CO activists — fighting for their safety and the public's — continue to badger Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry to overhaul working conditions in the state's prisons.

Senate and House lawmakers have been in Austin conducting their biennial legislative session. Just as they were in 2001, COs and union supporters will be on the capitol grounds lobbying for improvements in the state's Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).

Even more than pay and benefits, which rank among the worst in the country, corrections employees want respect for what they do. They are demanding that COs be certified as law enforcement personnel. In addition, they are seeking laws that provide formal training for COs; bolster recruitment and retention efforts; and require supervisors to receive training and pass examinations to get jobs.

Since 2001, state prisons have been understaffed by more than 3,000 personnel. COs have been warning TDCJ officials for years that low staffing levels and inexperienced employees are putting their lives in jeopardy.

On Jan. 29, Stanley A. Wiley, Local 3848 (Council 7), was murdered in the Clements Unit. Inmate Travis Trevino Runnels allegedly took a knife from the prison's shoe factory and slashed Wiley's throat. Apparently, Runnels, a janitor in the facility, became upset when Wiley told him to sweep the floor.

Wiley is the second Texas employee and AFSCME member to recently lose his life in a prison. In 1999, Daniel Nagle, president of Council 7's Local 3890, was killed in the McConnell Unit near Beeville. Robert Lynn Pruett stabbed Nagle, supposedly over a dispute involving regulations covering inmate use of the recreation yard. Pruett was convicted of the crime and has been sent to death row.

Both were working alone when they were killed. In Wiley's case, union leaders suspect that Runnels — serving a 70-year sentence for aggravated robbery — was improperly classified and shouldn't have been assigned to work as a custodian in the low-security Clements shoe factory.

A year after Nagle's death, inmates known as the "Texas Seven" escaped from the Connally Prison Unit in Kenedy and went on the lam for a month and a half. Before being recaptured near Colorado Springs, Colo., they killed a police officer, robbed stores and stole vehicles.

According to accounts, the Connally prison was understaffed by 30 COs, and inexperienced officers were working key posts on the day of the escape. The result? The inmates stormed a watchtower and ran off with several .357 magnum pistols, 238 rounds of ammunition, and a loaded rifle and shotgun.

Despite those horrific tragedies, Perry has vetoed legislation that will improve the safety of Texas prisons: In 2001, legislators from the Senate and House overwhelmingly passed House Bill 3185, which would have improved recruitment and retention, expanded training and given COs the same professional status as other law enforcement officers. But thanks to Perry, the bill never became law.

Don McCoy, president of Local 3806 (Council 7), believes that TDCJ management went to Perry and asked for his support. McCoy says that bill 3185 would have forced the agency "to report to the legislature on employee grievances, which they don't have to do now."

But COs and their followers are converging on the state capitol from March through May to gather bi-partisan support. One of their goals — with the help of key Republican sponsors — is to get legislation similar to 3185 back on the floor. A hazardous-duty bill has already been introduced. It calls for an increase in the monthly supplement allotted to employees working under harsh conditions. McCoy says he's been a Texas CO for 21 years, and the supplement hasn't changed.

Just as important to COs, Council 7 Exec. Dir. Brian Olsen says, state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R) will introduce a resolution that recognizes AFSCME and corrections employees for the work that they do. The ceremony will take place around May 5, which coincides with National Law Enforcement Week. Olsen notes that the decree is unprecedented in the Lone Star State and that it will "give us a shot in the arm and give us a little bit of integrity."

Adds McCoy: "It will definitely open more doors for us."