The AFGE Local Newsletter.

AFGE LOCAL 4051 News Letter March 2008

BUSH BUDGET CUTS PUT PRISON GUARDS, COMMUNITIES AT RISK by James Parks, Feb. 3, 2008

The Bush administration once again is forcing public safety to take a back seat to shortsighted budget cuts. Severe cutbacks among correctional officers in federal prisons are endangering prison inmates, staff, and the general public, according to AFGE, a nationwide union of federal employees, including 26,000 federal prison workers. Today, members of the AFGE Council of Prison Locals held an informational picket in freezing rain outside the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C. says council president Bryan Lowry. We want to raise awareness at DOJ that the Bureau of Prisons is underfunded and if this continues, we won't be able to keep the prisons secure. Agency officials have told the White House they need an additional $286 million in next year's budget or they may have to cut 4,000 jobs, mostly prison guards, Lowry says. That would be on top of the 2,300 prison security job cuts since 2005, he says, and officials just recently imposed a 90-day hiring freeze. Lowry says the public should be concerned about the shortage of prison guards because the nations 115 federal prisons contain more than 200,000 inmates, including thousands convicted of rape, murder, assault and other violent crimes. At the same time, every one of the prisons is overcrowded and the inmate population is rising. The lack of adequate security places puts communities around the prison in jeopardy because it increases the possibility of escapes and riots that could spill outside the prison gates. The prisons are so shorthanded that it is becoming harder to control the inmates, Lowry says. The number of assaults and murders inside the prisons on inmates and staff is rising, he adds. Because of budgetary reasons, we have been forced to do more with less, which has created a dangerous situation for the public, inmates and staff. Since 2005, the inmate population has increased 15.5 percent and the staff has dropped 5.5 percent. We're running prisons with bare bones staff. You used to have one staff member supervising 200-250 inmates, now it's 400. Or in the evenings when inmates are gathered in the yard, you used to have four or five guards to supervise 900-1,200 inmates, but now you have one. At some prisons, he says, support staff have been called on to perform the duties of guards just to maintain minimal securtiy, he says, and guards are often forced to work overtime because there are not enough trained guards to do the job. This is not a call for our workers to get a raise, this is an outcry by employees who work in the Bureau of Prisons to let people know we are working in unsafe conditions and that it affects everyone-inmates, staff and the public. Local 4051 has contacted Hal Rogers, Mitch McConnell, & Jim Bunning to invite them to visit our institution while they are on Spring Break from DC. We encourage each of you to contact their offices & give them a personal invitation. You can contact them through our website: www.afgelocal4051.com DC Trip Dan Ludwig, President & James O�Donnell, Chief Steward recently went to Washington DC to Lobby our Congressman & Senators for more money for the Bureau of Prisons. While there, they discussed several issues, most notable was removing the ten percent penalty for early withdrawal of our Thrift Savings Plan. State & Local Law Enforcement are already exempt, they say it was an oversight & should be corrected, however it keeps being put on with Bills that have little or no chance of passing. They also discussed funding for the Bureau of Prisons, as you can tell by the above story, we need more money or the Agency will cut more jobs. PLEASE take this seriously, contact your Representatives, Mission Critical was real, this will be also. While there, Dan & OD participated in a protest outside the Department of Justice concerning our funding & lack of staff in our institutions. There was also focus put FPI & there importance to our institutions security. It�s election time & there are some Legislators who are trying to eliminate this Program. Membership: We currently have 213 Active members & 1 Retired member, Mr. Bill Lee, he is our first. Thank you for being a member. In case you are wondering, when you retire if you would like to remain a member contact an E-Board member, it costs you nothing! The Local voted to pay your dues. It cost�s the Local about $18.00 a year for you to remain on our roll. This gives us greater voting strength at the Caucaus & Convention. Although Bonus Bucks is over, we would like for each of you to discuss with bargaining staff in your departments the importance of belonging in �YOUR� Local. The Council & AFGE are fighting our battles on the National level, MEMBERSHIP equals POWER when they negotiate for us on that level. If you need a 1187 (sign up form) you can find one on our Website (www.afgelocal4051.com) under Downloads. Current Issues: Be aware of this Administration�s newest tactic. They have attempted to Counsel staff & place written documentation in staff�s files concerning inmate allegations, without any investigation into the allegations. This cannot happen! We have been told that they are doing this because of the response at the bottom of each stating, �We take staff allegations seriously�. This could effect your career. If this is attempted contact an E-Board member immediately. We want to know about it. Our President settled 2 ULP�s & 1 Grievance recently. The Agency agreed to remove negative documentation from an employee�s file & they agreed to allow us to conduct Stewards Training sometime during this fall. Date, Time, Place & how many are yet to be determined. We will be informing the Stewards as soon as details are finalized. We will be limited to the number of Stewards who will be allowed off so priority will go to those who did not attend the last training. We try to have a Steward in each area/department, if you are interested in becoming a Steward, contact OD, I�m sure he would be glad to discuss it with you. Once again Annual Training is adventurous. They agreed that the ART schedule should have been changed earlier for ACA, but they didn�t do it. Well on the bright side, they agreed they WERE NOT going to cancel anyone�s Scheduled Annual Leave. If you were scheduled leave & now ART, you can take the leave & make up your ART later. This year for Correctional Workers week, your local is sponsoring a 9 hole Golf Scramble at Big Hickory. We will get the information out to you as soon as we get everything finalized. We encourage you to dust off your clubs & join us, it will be fun. We hope to have prizes for Longest Drive & Closest to the Pin for starters. More details will follow. What do you think about the changes to the Staff Lounge? The furniture is being cleaned & as soon as that is complete it will be placed back. There is a rumor that it is to bright in there since the white tile was placed on the floor, what do you think? Let Mr. Ludwig know, he is very interested in this subject. In case you did not know, Jimmy Howard is your Fair Practices Coordinator. He is also one of the institutions EEO Counselors & a Steward. If you should find yourself in need of his services, he would be more than happy to talk to you. As you can tell, Jimmy is a busy man. Thank you Jimmy for your dedication to our cause! Thank you for your continued support. Without you, there would be no Union. Each & every member of this Local is vital to our continued success. If you have concerns, we encourage you to let us know. We would like to encourage you to get with your Stewards first, they have received training & they would love to put their wealth of knowledge to use. There is a current list of Stewards on the bulletin board by the Warden�s office.

In Unity,
Dan Ludwig, President
Steve Creech, 1st Vice President
Mac Armes, 2nd Vice President
James O�Donnell, Chief Steward
Jeff Shortridge, Secretary/Treasurer
Your E-Board............................