Members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a union that represents approximately 28,000 correctional workers, will be traveling to Washington, D.C., in February to discuss a variety of issues with congressional representatives.Chief issues on the union’s agenda are federal funding and prison privatization.
In the Congressional budget, funding for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is set to be cut by at least $100 million in 2008. Instead, the union wants an increased appropriation of $400 million because of safety concerns and a growing federal prison population.
The AFGE local chapters will also be supporting a House resolution that would eliminate the placing of federal inmates in privately-run correctional facilities.
Workers at the BOP correctional complex in Florence, Colo., are members of the union and have repeatably brought up concerns about low staffing levels at the Supermax prison there.
