Street Savvy

There's more at stake here than saving a lot of money.

— CO Steven Sipes, Local 993 (Council 31)

VANDALIA, ILLINOIS

Overcast skies failed to dampen the spirit of this city's residents who took to the streets one cold morning in March to send Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) a simple message: Save our prison.

A lively crowd estimated at 6,000 filled four blocks of downtown's Gallatin Street to protest the plan to close the local minimum-security prison by June 30. Billed as "Save Vandalia Correctional Center [VCC] Photo Day," the massive rally was organized by Local 993 (Council 31) and city officials. Enlarged photos of the event were delivered to Blagojevich and legislators to drive home the point.

Matt Hall, a corrections officer for eight years and a member of Local 993, says he was "stunned" when he first learned of the governor's move to shut down the facility because it's "outdated." Hall points out that "VCC is well-maintained and efficiently run. And it has excellent programs that benefit both inmates and the community." The center employs 525 people, most of them residents of Vandalia, and 95 percent of them AFSCME members. That's a big number in a small city whose unemployment rate already stands at 8.9 percent. If the plan goes through, most of the workers will be out of a job.

"There's more at stake here than saving a lot of money," declares Steven Sipes, a corrections officer for 14 years. "The VCC is a vital part of this community, and we're determined to fight together for a common cause."

To show the community's resolve, Local Pres. Brian Bourke says, activists will lobby at the state capitol and hold more rallies in the coming weeks.