Initial Steps

DO THESE THINGS NOW.

Although signs of an impending disturbance may be present before its occurrence, the actual outbreak can occur quickly and without warning. In order for the union to respond rapidly, the following steps need to be taken now, before any disturbance occurs.

Contingency Plan

• Question management about its contingency plan for families of employees who may be taken hostage.
• If none exists, demand that one be developed.

Crisis Management Team

The union must establish a team to manage its work during a disturbance and to meet its responsibilities to members and their families.

• Identify those persons who will have a role in the union’s management of a disturbance, whether they are union officers, staff, local union leadership, or the corrections leadership in the state.
• Assemble all their phone and beeper numbers on a central statewide list, available to each local union.
• Determine what will be done from the union’s headquarters and what activities the union will want to manage at the site of the disturbance. Assign each person on the team either to headquarters or to the site of the disturbance. Designate one person to coordinate the work that will occur at each location.
• Establish a mechanism for alerting each member of the team of a disturbance, and for rapidly assembling the team at a central location for a briefing before each member begins his or her assignment.

Communications Network

• Plan a network to communicate with union members about the crisis, exchange information about other facilities, and dispel any rumors. The communications network can consist of several components, including those mentioned below.
  • Conference calls with local union leadership permit the dissemination and exchange of information, including potential trouble spots.
  • A toll-free number with a constantly updated message provides union members easy access to information about the disturbance.
  • A daily fax bulletin sent out to local leadership can disseminate information about the disturbance and help to dispel rumors. An up-to-date fax list should always be maintained.
  • Union stewards are an essential part of the communications network since they have the most contact with members. Arrangements must be made by local leadership to distribute information to stewards.

Access to Facility Grounds

• Identify the law enforcement authorities likely to be responsible for access to the prison grounds during a disturbance and arrange for union representatives to have access to the site.
• If desired, create a union identification tag or badge for use during the disturbance.

Lodging

• Members of the union’s team with assignments at the facility must plan to be available 24 hours a day for the duration of the disturbance.
• Available lodging in the vicinity of each facility should be identified early since there will be increased demand for lodging in the area of the facility.
• If lodging is unavailable, arrangements may be made to stay with union members who live near the facility or to borrow a recreational vehicle and locate it near the facility.

Union Command Post

• Establish a place near the facility that could be used as a union command post. A recreational vehicle could be used, but the optimal situation is to have a space with:
  • phone and fax lines;
  • a private area; and
  • meeting space.

ACU-Sponsored Hostage Insurance

Several AFSCME councils and locals purchase insurance to cover officers against the possibility of their being taken hostage. Your council or local may want to consider doing this. For further information, please contact AFSCME’s Department of Organizing and Field Services at (202) 429-1266.