Union for Federal Prison Officers Holds Protest Outside Justice Department

Thursday February 14, 2008

HUNDREDS ATTEND TO FOCUS ON INCREASE IN ASSAULTS, POTENTIAL THREATS TO COMMUNITY SAFETY

Hundreds of AFGE members and activists including National President John Gage, National Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox, Council of Prison Locals (CPL) President Bryan Lowry, and CPL Legislative Coordinator Phil Glover protested outside the Justice Department today to draw attention to the continued lack of funding and inadequate staffing throughout the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). This critical situation puts federal correctional officers in grave danger, and threatens the security of surrounding communities.

“We can no longer turn a blind eye to the critical situation inside our nation’s federal prisons,” said Lowry. “We need more staff to get the job done; it’s as simple as that. A decrease in staffing levels makes our prisons and communities less safe. We are here today to make sure we get the staffing and funding we need.”

AFGE and CPL also focused on the need for the Federal Prison Industries program (also known as UNICOR), which is a federal work program used to keep inmates occupied and productive throughout the day. Some legislators are trying to eliminate the program, which would put federal correctional officers at greater risk of an attack at the hands of an inmate.

The Union says serious inmate overcrowding and correctional worker understaffing such as that at the Florence, Colo. federal prison campus, which includes the ADX Supermax, plague the BOP system nationwide, and create hazardous conditions for federal prison inmates, federal correctional workers, and the communities in which they work. 

CPL President Bryan Lowry on NPR