Federal Correctional Workers Go Big To Get Congress’ Attention 

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., are among 10 members of Congress that will see their names on billboards across the country. The American Federation of Government Employees’ (AFGE) Council of Prison Locals is trying to use the signs that say things like “Stop attacking law enforcement, reject executive order 14251″ to draw attention to what they call the Congressmembers’ failure to support law enforcement officers

Brandy Moore White is the national president for the AFGE Council of Prison Locals, which represents more than 33,000 federal correctional workers nationwide. She said in recent weeks the union has been unable to get meetings with, or even phone calls from, members of Congress that for years have responded to their petitions and openly supported their cause. 

“When you’ve had and maintained a relationship with an office, and then all of a sudden they just stop answering calls and texts and emails, it’s a slap in the face,” Moore White said.

Just last year, local union correctional officers at Federal Correctional Complex Hazelton in Preston County credited the intervention of Capito and Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., in their receiving a 25% pay increase as part of an effort to increase staff retention.

Moore White said Bureau of Prison (BOP) officers are the lowest paid federal law enforcement agency in the government, and recent budget constraints have not only halted retention pay but pose very real safety threats to officers and inmates.

“We’ve stopped all the training, and if you’ve seen most of the things where BOP hits the news, it’s very devastating, things like someone’s died, or things of that nature,” she said. “And I honestly can relate a lot of that back to lack of training. They’ve cut off training. They’ve cut off so many things. And right now we have prisons that are three and four months behind on things like their utility bills and their food bills because the budget is so tight.”

The organization is also asking members of congress to reject President Donald Trumps’ Executive Order 14251, which bars more than a million federal employees at the BOP and other agencies from collective bargaining.

“It strips our contract. In our contract, we have pretty much everything, how people bid on post and shifts and seniority, how they bid on annual leave and things of that nature,” Moore White said. “Without our Master Agreement, our collective bargaining agreement, our staff feel like they are going to be hung out to dry.”

The organization has already put up 19 billboards in eight states to get the lawmakers’ attention. Two targeting Capito have been placed in the Charleston area on US Route 60, while two more focusing on Moore have been placed in the Morgantown area on the Mileground section of US Route 119 and on West Virginia State Route 705.

Moore White says they are simply asking for a return to open communication with their elected leaders and a commitment to campaign promises to support law enforcement.

“We understand a lot of times people have to vote party lines and things of that nature,” she said. “But when you have an administration that says they’re very pro law enforcement, and our staff are law enforcement, and they’re not even hearing us, that’s like a slap in the face to us.”

In an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Capito’s staff said she met with Billy Marshall, head of the BOP and West Virginia native Tuesday, May 20. The email goes on to say they talked about the needs of corrections officers on staffing and safety.

Moore’s office did not respond to a request for comment by the publication of this story.

The other members of Congress that have billboards calling on them to act for correctional workers are: 

• Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif. 
• Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.
• Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
• Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.
• Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.
• Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio
• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. 
• Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas.