COs Hang Tough

AFSCME corrections officers recently fought off decertification attempts by rival organizations. In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, officers from Minnesota Council 6 overwhelmingly rejected a raid by a 906-to-440 vote. In Ohio, COs from the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association/ AFSCME Local 11 never gave the raiders a chance. That's because members spurned the opposition's effort to reach the 30 percent minimum required for filing an election petition.

In Pennsylvania, COs acting through an Internet Web site were able to help convince their Minnesota counterparts that they should stay with the Green. Pennsylvania CO Myron Kyle identified the unfulfilled promises made by the new bargaining agent in its decert campaign and pointed out the gains negotiated by Council 13 in training, standards, special teams and "dignity and respect when we walked into contract negotiations or committee meetings with state officials."

In addition, after a close election, New York Council 82 welcomed back 1,100 security employees (in agencies other than Corrections) who left the opposing union. Another group defeated a raid by that organization by a three-to-one margin.