Members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 are demonstrating outside more than two dozen prisons statewide, including the Centralia, Vandalia and Big Muddy Correctional Centers.
AFSCME members say that state prisons are short-staffed; offenders increasingly abuse narcotic, synthetic, or toxic substances (and staff are increasingly exposed to these dangerous substances); and violent assaults on staff are too common.
Saying “Safety Matters,” AFSCME members are calling on the Department of Corrections to prevent illegal substances, enforce policies requiring clear consequences for offenders abusing substances or assaulting staff, and expedite hiring for safe staffing levels.
Council 31 Executive Director Robert Lynch says AFSCME members should not have to face violent assaults, illegal drugs and chronic staff shortages as common occurrences when just doing their jobs. She says they are demanding that leadership of the Department of Corrections step up and do more to make this essential work safer.
AFSCME represents more than 10,000 Illinois prison workers.
The demonstration outside the Centralia Correctional Center is at two pm, at the Vandalia Correctional Center 2:30 pm and at the Big Muddy Correctional Center at three.
