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For AFSCME public safety members, summer brings a wave of activism

AFSCME Staff
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While summer means rest and relaxation for many Americans, AFSCME members who work in public safety have brought a wave of white-hot energy to their fight for fairness on the job.  

In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the corrections officers of AFSCME Local 1738 (Council 13) are forced to work in a prison without air conditioning, only adding to the inherent dangers on the job 

They recently fought and won an arbitration award that ruled that the county needs to provide an additional paid day off for officers when they work in temperatures of 80 degrees or above during the hotter months. 

The county tried to overturn the workers’ victory but AFSCME members made their voices heard, and a judge upheld the ruling in the workers’ favor. 

On the other side of the country, in Thurston County, Washington, corrections employees who work for the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office won a victory as well, as the county agreed to extend double-overtime pay through the end of the year.  

Thanks to AFSCME Council 2 members’ advocacy, the county recognized the need to boost pay to keep well-trained COs, in light of the severe short-staffing current COs face. 

And in the heartland, AFSCME Iowa public safety members are sounding the alarm against the Iowa Department of Corrections’ attempt to privatize health care in corrections facilities.  

The department of corrections is trying to use the modernization of its outdated health records system to push a broader privatization scheme, potentially eliminating the jobs of health care professionals who work in prisons. 

Todd Copley, President of AFSCME Council 61, said: “Instead of investing in the frontline workers already doing the job, the state wants to hand it off to a private contractor. That’s not a solution, it’s a mistake.”