JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Corrections officers from Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood, spent their day off or their lunch breaks picketing outside the building for better pay.
People who work there picketed to bring attention to issues they said they've been facing for years — they said their working conditions are unsafe because of understaffing at the prison. They are told they have to work an overtime shift with 15 minutes' notice, they said, resulting in a 16-hour work day.
“Our staff wants to come in and do our job, and do it well, and it's hard to do when your hands are tied,” said James Simmerman, union president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 709. “It has a huge impact on the morale and mindset of our staff.”
Simmerman said he has seen a lot change for the worse. He said the facility is down almost 50 positions right now.
“16-hour forced overtimes are fairly often, frequently happening 2 or 3 times per week,” Simmerman said. “We have had several escapes that have been in the news over the last few years."
Simmerman says drugs and overdoses are another problem.
“To have more staff in more areas is a deterrent in of itself, having more eyes around deters some of that from even being entered in our facility in the start,” Simmerman said.
Until they can get more eyes on the inmates, they hope the right eyes land on their message — with the Bureau of Prisons director at the facility Thursday.
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“We heard the BOP was touring our facility today, so we thought it was a good opportunity to get eyes on our situation here, and one more way to make sure she is aware of the crisis we have with our staffing here,” Simmerman said. “It’s good to see her face to face and tell her to her face the issues our staff has had and have that one-on-one interaction and make sure she knows. She appeared sympathetic and said they're working on a lot of things, but we’ve, unfortunately, it's the same song and dance we have heard before.”
Tprotection they can bring the community that supports them all starts on the inside.
“A lot of our staff live in the community, so a lot of our staff have a vested interest in the surrounding community and keeping that safe,” Simmerman said.
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