WHEREAS:

AFSCME represents 85,000 dedicated corrections personnel across the country; and

WHEREAS:

Corrections personnel showed up for work on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes without adequate personal protective equipment. Due to the nature of corrections work, officers and other staff were unable to maintain safe distances from their co-workers and inmates in correctional facilities; and

WHEREAS:

Staffing shortages in state and local prisons and jails, already an issue prior to COVID, have been exacerbated by the pandemic, leading to unsafe conditions inside correctional facilities for both inmates and staff, including the rise of both officer and inmate suicide; and

 WHEREAS:

Underinvestment in corrections, which includes understaffing, diminishes rehabilitation and re-entry services, which further compromises safety in our communities.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

AFSCME supports dedicated federal funding to hire and retain state and local correctional officers, rehabilitative, health, and re-entry staff similar to the programs regularly utilized by the policing sector of law enforcement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

AFSCME advocates for states and local governments to utilize remaining federal COVID funding and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) not only to recruit, but also to retain staff; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

AFSCME encourages state and local government employers to create labor-management programs with a focus on officer and inmate safety and adequate staffing levels that will effectively protect correctional personnel and inmates.

SUBMITTED BY:
Christopher Mabe, President
Kathy Gersper, Secretary-Treasurer
OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11
Ohio