Job cuts for prison staff

[fried122]

I saw this article on some afl-cio site found it both interesting & disgusting, prison staff put their lives on the line everyday maybe the rocket scientists of the administration should do some real time & then see if they fell the same about cuts

Bush Budget Cuts Put Prison Guards, Communities at Risk
by James Parks, Feb 13, 2008
Photo credit: jtuason


The Bush administration once again is forcing public safety to take a back seat to short-sighted 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 jobs cut 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 nation’s 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 barebones 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 security, 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.

[Thorn]

Originally Posted by fried122

I saw this article on some afl-cio site found it both interesting & disgusting, prison staff put their lives on the line everyday maybe the rocket scientists of the administration should do some real time & then see if they fell the same about cuts

Bush Budget Cuts Put Prison Guards, Communities at Risk
by James Parks, Feb 13, 2008
Photo credit: jtuason


The Bush administration once again is forcing public safety to take a back seat to short-sighted 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 jobs cut 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 nation’s 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 barebones 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 security, 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.

Bush just wants to take the jobs away from the Federal employee just to further force the common working man to have to join the Army to stay the course on an unwinnable and pointless war. I hear the Army is going to be offering $40k to all new recruits to join since the Defense Dept. is pushing for 75,000 new troops to join within the next 4 years to relieve out the troops that are already over there in Iraq. What a waste of life, money, and jobs this damn war has been.

Let's just bring our guys home, drop a nuke on the ****s in Iraq, and call it a day!

[Crosstimbers Okie]

The last time I read the US Constitution, it said that the budget originates in the House of Representatives, is approved by the Senate, then goes to the President for approval or veto. If the President signs it into law, it becomes law. If the President vetoes it, the House & Senate can override that veto with 2/3 majority in each house and it becomes law.

The President certainly presents a proposed executive branch budget to the House for consideration. But the House decides whether to include it or toss it in the trashcan.

Congress controls the federal budget, pure & simple. Congress decides whether the bulk of the federal budget will be spent here or in Iraq. Congress declares war or votes for a "resolution authorizing force in ...." you name it. A resolution authorizing force is merely a coward's way of declaring war. It sounds nicer.

Love Bush, hate Bush. Love Clinton, hate Clinton. It matters not. Congress is still the supreme branch of the US Government.

[Iowa #1603]

Originally Posted by Crosstimbers Okie

The last time I read the US Constitution, it said that the budget originates in the House of Representatives, is approved by the Senate, then goes to the President for approval or veto. If the President signs it into law, it becomes law. If the President vetoes it, the House & Senate can override that veto with 2/3 majority in each house and it becomes law.

The President certainly presents a proposed executive branch budget to the House for consideration. But the House decides whether to include it or toss it in the trashcan.

.

Yea and now my former Congressman heads the OMB........You might remember him from years ago when the Republicans took over congress....They guy with the paper bag over his head!
Thank God Jimmy Nussel is only going to be budget director until the new president takes over!!!!!!!!!

[BossMan]

Severe cutbacks among correctional officers in federal prisons are endangering prison inmates, staff and the general public

Notice the well-being of prison inmates being mentioned first...

Anyways, Republicans love LEO's, but they hate to pay us. But my gripe questions is; why is it the budget axe handlers always lay-off the people making the least salary in a workplace? How will laying-off some GL-05/06/07/08 Corrections Officer solve any budget problem? If anything, lay off these useless and abundant non-custody GS-10/11/12/13/14/15 "Recreation Therapists", "Library Technicians", "Business Office Specialists", "Sex Offender Management Specialists", "Case Workers", "Social Workers", "Education Specialists", "Physcholoigists" and "Chaplain" types who do nothing but take 2-hour lunches, ask CO's to write shots on cons who don't show-up for their call-outs, and clog radio traffic on day watch. We could save plenty of money on portal issues and time through the metal detectors on day watch by cutting the line of NC idiots coming to work with more metallic jewelry than Flava-Flav. Big savings, right there!

Cutting overpaid non-custody staff is a better idea, in my eyes. Maybe I should run for CONgress. Oh yeah, I can't. ****in' Hatch Act!

[Bobshouse]

Originally Posted by BossMan

Notice the well-being of prison inmates being mentioned first...

Anyways, Republicans love LEO's, but they hate to pay us. But my gripe questions is; why is it the budget axe handlers always lay-off the people making the least salary in a workplace? How will laying-off some GL-05/06/07/08 Corrections Officer solve any budget problem? If anything, lay off these useless and abundant non-custody GS-10/11/12/13/14/15 "Recreation Therapists", "Library Technicians", "Business Office Specialists", "Sex Offender Management Specialists", "Case Workers", "Social Workers", "Education Specialists", "Physcholoigists" and "Chaplain" types who do nothing but take 2-hour lunches, ask CO's to write shots on cons who don't show-up for their call-outs, and clog radio traffic on day watch. We could save plenty of money on portal issues and time through the metal detectors on day watch by cutting the line of NC idiots coming to work with more metallic jewelry than Flava-Flav. Big savings, right there!

Cutting overpaid non-custody staff is a better idea, in my eyes. Maybe I should run for CONgress. Oh yeah, I can't. ****in' Hatch Act!

You answered your own question..."Notice the well-being of prison inmates being mentioned first..." Well, those staff are needed for the well-being of prison inmates! Now how in the heck do you think a hardened thug is going to have a chance at rehabilitation without them? You must think we send them to prison for punishment

Just for a little icing on the cake, the BOP just gave there Safety Managers back their 12's and 13's...

[BossMan]

What is this "rehabilitation" you speak of?

[JEG]

This kind of news stresses me out. And just when you think we have one of the most secure jobs out there.

[Movementarian]

i think they will accomplish what they want through hiring freezes and not replacing those that retire. I doubt it would come to lay-offs.

[KrayzieVanh]

Hmm.. I heard something about Unicor cutting jobs- but staff could be re-distributed through out the institution.

There's a freeze going on right now at my institution for CO position. They are only hiring medical staff.