AFSCME corrections officers in Connecticut recognized for making workplaces safer
Corrections officers from three AFSCME locals in Connecticut were honored for making their workplaces safer.
Each year, on April 28, as part of Workers Memorial Day, the Connecticut AFL-CIO holds an event in Hartford to honor workers who have died, been injured on the job or gotten sick due to work.
The Connecticut AFL-CIO Health and Safety Committee also honors those who are working to prevent workplace deaths and injuries.
This year, AFSCME Locals 387, 391 and 1565 — all part of Council 4 — were recognized for their advocacy at the Connecticut Department of Correction to boost workplace safety.
“Due to the coordinated advocacy of all three AFSCME DOC locals, the Department of Correction finally chose to begin the implementation of mail scanners and body scanners in select correctional institutions — critical technology that, when it is utilized in every facility within the CTDOC, will make correctional officers and staff, as well as inmates, exponentially safer,” said Jeremie St. Pierre, a correctional officer at the Cheshire Correctional Complex and president of Local 387.
“Correctional officers live solidarity in a way that most can only hope to understand. Every day, they put their lives on the line for others, trusting that their brothers and sisters in uniform will be there beside them,” said St. Pierre, who was honored along with his co-workers at the Connecticut AFL-CIO event. “That bond is sacred. It's not built on empty words, but on the shared experience of risking their lives in service to their community, with long nights on the job and split-second moments.”
State Sen. Julie Kushner received the Connecticut AFL-CIO’s Legislative Health & Safety Award for a lifetime of fighting for worker health and safety. Kushner, chair of the Labor & Public Employees Committee, sponsored SB 660 in 2021. The law expanded post-traumatic stress injury coverage to Department of Correction employees, 911 dispatchers and Emergency Medical Services personnel.
Last week was National Correctional Officers and Employees Week, a time to honor corrections workers and their crucial public safety mission, and thank them for their behind-the-scenes service to their communities. In addition to workplace safety, corrections professionals nationwide face a short-staffing crisis.
Last month, we commemorated Workers’ Memorial Day. In 2024, the most recent full year of data available, 5,070 people were killed at work nationwide, including those who provide public services. Across Connecticut, 41 workers lost their lives due to work-related injuries in 2024.
Public safety professionals are turning to AFSCME to build power at work and advocate for safety on the job, better wages, good health care and a secure retirement. AFSCME members in corrections, law enforcement and emergency response defend our freedoms and our communities.