Honoring the behind-the-scenes service of corrections officers and employees

What happens when a prison or jail doesn’t have enough corrections workers on staff? 

Here’s how AFSCME member and Corrections Officer Mitchell Spruiell explains it: 

“With fewer eyes, there are slower response times, and everyone is stretched thin and that adds to the tension. It builds and builds and then breaks, and nobody wants that,” said Spruiell, who works in a maximum security state prison in Texas.  

The severity of the staffing shortage varies among institutions. But overall, it is one of the most important challenges facing the corrections workforce nationwide. 

During National Correctional Officers and Employees Week, we shine a light on corrections workers, their crucial public safety mission, and express our appreciation for their behind-the-scenes service to their communities. 

We also recommit to the fight for the staffing and resources they need to be safe on the job: A fair wage that can attract workers and pay raises that can retain them; adequate protective gear; work schedules that maintain a healthy work-life balance; reliable communications equipment; and a strong union voice in decisions that impact the workplace. 

“Correctional officers and employees are some of the bravest, most dedicated public service workers in this country. They work in conditions most Americans never see – rehabilitating offenders, maintaining safety and order, and caring for the well-being of inmates. These brave workers make tremendous sacrifices to do their jobs and keep our communities safe, and they deserve a strong voice on the job so they can secure fair pay, safe staffing, better working conditions and more,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “Too often, corrections officers across the country are working short-handed, forced into constant mandatory overtime, and expected to do dangerous jobs with less support. But AFSCME members in public safety understand the best way to stand up for their jobs and communities is by strengthening their voice on the job. That’s why they are organizing and fighting back to ensure they have the resources they need to do their jobs safely. This Corrections Week, we say thank you to them and stand with every correctional officer and employee who work tirelessly to protect their communities.” 

Building power by forming unions  

With their union voice, corrections officers and employees are forceful advocates for workplace safety. 

Spruiell, president of AFSCME Texas Correctional Employees Council 907 (TCEC), credits workers negotiating though their union for securing better and more protective gear. 

“We used to have to share stab-proof vests. Now we have more vests, more radios, better puncture resistant gloves,” he said. 

It is an especially dangerous profession. More than 500 correctional officers have died in the line of duty going back to 1841, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, with an average of 11 work-related deaths each year. 

The 2023 death of a correctional officer near Huntsville, Texas, prompted changes in policies and procedures on handling incidents with prisoners, Spruiell said. The prisoner involved in the officer’s death pleaded guilty to capital murder last year. 

“We’re always taught, you want to go home at the end of the day,” he said. 

AFSCME members are also on guard against efforts to privatize prisons in various communities.  

Private, for-profit companies try to convince elected officials to abandon the public service model. AFSCME members speak out in opposition because privatization degrades services, weakens accountability and increases costs for taxpayers in the long run. 

In another example of the union difference, AFSCME successfully argued to the Supreme Court that private prison contractors like GEO Group should not be immune from lawsuits over wrongdoing. The decision was a victory for public service workers, and keeps public work accountable to the public, not private corporations motivated by profit. 

Improving corrections workplaces around the country  

AFSCME members around the country are taking action to improve the lives of corrections officers and employees. 

• This year, AFSCME members in Texas are defending the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act from state officials who want to strip state employees of its protections.  
• In November, about 500 members of  Servidores Públicos Unidos de Puerto Rico (SPUPR/AFSCME Council 95) held a public demonstration to demand the pay raises they were owed, which were delivered in December. 
• In Illinois last year, members of AFSCME Council 31 fought for an expansion in the number of training academies to help hire and train more corrections officers.  
• Members of OCSEA last year helped secure funding for new safety equipment in Ohio prisons.  

Corrections workers’ role in our criminal justice system is one that most people never see. These dedicated  workers carry out their public safety duties away from the public eye. AFSCME salutes their role in protecting the incarcerated population, the public outside the walls, and each other.  

“If we don’t hold the line, who will?” said Spruiell.