The union representing corrections officers in state prisons is calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to activate the National Guard to help address staffing shortages that are being described as "dangerous working conditions" for their members.
“State corrections officers continue to suffer unlike any other state employees ever have in the history of Michigan,” wrote Byron Osborn, president of SEUI Local 526M of the Michigan Corrections Organization, in a letter to Whitmer.
“These folks are working multiple 16-hour shifts per week,” Osborn told WCMU. “Their family lives are being disrupted. Their health is being impacted. They’re exhausted. And it’s leading to more and more resignations, which only exacerbates the problem.”
According to data from the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), the vacancy levels in the state’s 26 prisons range between 4.3% and 36.3% for corrections officers. Half of these prisons have a vacancy level under 15%, while 8 facilities have a vacancy rate of 5% or below.
Osborn said exhausted correction officers are dealing with prisons that are full of gangs that are taking advantage of “lax” policies from the MDOC regarding prisoner discipline. He also attributes the erosion of state benefits for corrections officers as part of the reason for the decline in staffing and the department’s inability to retain staff.
“That in turn leads to prospective applicants taking jobs in other lines of work that have the same benefits now, and you’re not working in a dangerous prison where you’re getting beaten up by prisoners,” Osborn said. “The only people happy with the current conditions in the prisons are the prisoners, they’re being coddled at the expense of officer safety.”
The Governor’s office deferred to the MDOC when WCMU reached out for a request for comment on Osborn’s letter.
“The situation facing MDOC staff continues to be challenging, but the solution is not a temporary measure such as bringing in National Guard members who have not been trained to operate in this environment,” wrote Kyle Kaminski, a spokesperson for the MDOC.
Kaminski also acknowledged that many corrections officers have been put in a difficult position to work long hours to cover shifts. He added that the issue has been ongoing for several years.
According to Kaminski, the MDOC continues to make efforts to improve the recruitment and retention of officers, “including advertising positions within the MDOC across multiple platforms, conducting hundreds of hiring events, improving the working environments of staff, and operating four Corrections Officer academies each year.”
A new policy is set to take effect on October 1 that will enable corrections officers to reach a maximum salary of $68,500 after three and a half years of service. Kaminski said that efforts like these, along with further promoting the benefits of working in the MDOC, such as providing community safety, remain a focal point of the Department’s effort to improve staffing levels.
The legislature, Osborn said, must “take a hard look at improving the benefits package for corrections officers. Over the past couple of decades, they’ve eroded the benefits. There’s no longer a pension. There’s no longer retiree healthcare coverage.
“We just don’t know what the next steps are,” he said. “We have to continue pleading with these elected officials to take action.”
The Michigan Corrections Organization represents 5,500 corrections officers across the state.
