State Corrections employees picket for contract funding

The following is from Teamsters Local 117:

Teamster corrections employees will raise informational pickets at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe and the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla on Thursday, June 11 from 12 to 4 p.m. to demand that the Legislature pass a budget that funds their contract and avoids a government shutdown.

A government shutdown would lead to widespread layoffs at the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) if the Legislature does not pass a budget by June 30. The DOC has estimated that as many as 2,800 correctional employees could be subject to temporary layoffs in the event of a government shutdown.

TAKE A STAND!  Union members and community supporters are invited to support DOC workers at these informational pickets from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday at Monroe Correctional Complex, across from the Chevron Station, 17025 W Main St. in Monroe and at the Washington State Penitentiary in front of the DOC Training Center, 1415 W. Pine in Walla Walla.

The DOC recently signed a contract with the private prison GEO group to transfer inmates out-of-state to alleviate overcrowding in Washington prisons. Correctional employees say that more revenue is needed so that the DOC can responsibly house offenders in Washington State.