|
Testifying at the capitol (clockwise) were Valerie Stone, Tim Woolery, Paul McDonough and Greg Clouser. |
|
Feb. 8 was a big day for AFSCME-represented Corrections employees, as a panel of members plus Council 75 Corrections Coordinator Tim Woolery outlined current staffing difficulties our members face in state prisons across Oregon.
In addition, the our Corrections contingent met with state Rep. Greg Smith (R-Heppner), a longtime supporter of our union’s Corrections issues.
Watch Video — Greg Smith pledges support of our union’s Corrections legislative priorities
Department of Corrections Director Colette Peters was first to speak to members of the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public Safety. Peters walked the committee through staffing history over the past decade, noting the Department frequently has asked the Legislature for more staff, most often to no avail. Following Peters’ presentation, the AFSCME panel took the floor.
• Woolery told legislators that inadequate staffing and the resulting voluntary and/or mandatory overtime leads to a variety of both on-the-job and off-the-job issues for our Corrections members, then turned it over to three members to tell the tale first-hand.
• Valerie Stone, a CO at Santiam Correctional Institution in Salem, emphasized how the overtime hours place stress on families. Smaller institutions such as SCI, she noted, have a correspondingly smaller pool of workers to pull from to cover shifts.
• Greg Clouser, a longtime AFSCME activist from Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, said that at 5 years old, his daughter understood what the “bucket list” (mandatory overtime) was. Clouser told legislators that recent studies show Corrections employees with higher levels of stress, alcoholism, divorce, PTSD and suicide than any other law enforcement profession.
• Paul McDonough brought a somewhat different perspective to the hearing. McDonough is a member of Local 1674, which represents the DOC’s Transport Unit. McDonough and his colleagues move inmates from Point A to Point B for a variety of reasons — medical appointments, court appearances, occasionally even funerals. Too often, said McDonough, those transports are one staff for one inmate, and he raised some eyebrows when describing what happens when nature calls.
“Medical appointments, in particular, can take several hours,” said McDonough, who is based in the Pendleton area. “At some point, you need to use the restroom. We call in, and are generally told to leave the inmate where he is while you use the bathroom. So you’ve got an inmate left alone in an unsecured area while you’re off doing your business. You’ve got needles and other contraband issues, you’ve got the possibility the prisoner could take someone hostage, or they can just take off and escape. Obviously there are liability and public safety issues in these situations.”
Several committee members expressed support during the informational hearing. Whether those comments translate into increased funding for additional staffing won’t be known until the full 2017 session, when the Legislature will set budgets for the 2017-19 biennium. Oregon AFSCME Political Director Joe Baessler says our union will come to the ’17 session with a Corrections staffing package among its priorities.
|