AFSCME Corrections Update: March 2025
More action needed on assaults and drug exposures
Assaults and exposure to potentially dangerous substances are still major problems throughout the Illinois prison system—and management is still failing to address these issues.
While management at some facilities is active in responding to such incidents, at others, they simply allow assaults and exposures to continue without locking down facilities, shaking down wings, or administering proper discipline for incarcerated individuals who assault employees or are found with illicit substances.
For instance, at Illinois River Correctional Center, staff members were assaulted and injured on two consecutive days, without management transferring individuals responsible out of the facility or instituting a lockdown.
Without addressing incidents and instituting facility and department-wide changes to prevent assaults and exposures, frontline staff continue to be put at risk. AFSCME will continue to demand that management do more in responding to each incident so that the next one is prevented before it occurs, and staff are kept safe on the job.
AFSCME members are encouraged to continue filing detailed incident reports whenever an assault or an exposure occurs, making sure that a copy of this documentation is sent to the local president.
AFSCME pressure leads to strong response at Lincoln Correctional Center
Though the response from management across IDOC has been lacking, AFSCME’s relentless pressure recently brought positive results and action at one facility: Lincoln CC. At the end of February and into March, multiple staff members were sent to the hospital after they were exposed to incarcerated individuals smoking in the housing unit. While one individual was placed in restrictive housing due to suspected drug use, the facility was not locked down, nor were the responsible individuals transferred out.
On March 4, Local 501 President Curt Queen, Staff Representative Tod Williams and the Local 501 Executive Board met with the warden, where they shared their concerns, along with what needed to be done to keep staff members safe. Following this meeting, the warden ordered a shakedown, along with the placement of multiple individuals in investigative status. Once those investigations conclude, the individuals will be transferred from the facility. This response immediately helped raise morale at the facility.
This positive outcome shows what we can accomplish when we keep the pressure on. AFSCME will never stop working to keep IDOC employees safe – both at Lincoln and in every facility in the state.
Management tries to blame staff for smoking incidents at JTC
While it is clear that exposure to drug use by offenders is putting staff at risk, in some cases management tries to put the blame for the problem on employees – without any evidence or cause. At Joliet Treatment Center, multiple staff had to be taken to the hospital recently due to symptoms of exposure. However, management responded by banning staff from bringing paper into the facility – not the individuals smoking dangerous substances.
This decree was issued even after AFSCME pointed out that incarcerated individuals have been requesting and receiving more paper through legal mail – and no such prohibitions or extra precautions around paper exist for visitors coming into the facility.
In February, internal affairs brought K-9 dogs to JTC, but mostly focused on the guardhouse – and were disappointed when dogs turned up no drugs. Time and time again, it is proven that staff have nothing to do with the drug usage at the facility, and yet management continues to try to blame staff, even as multiple frontline employees have had to receive medical treatment for exposure.
AFSCME is demanding that management look at the real source of drug smuggling: inmate mail, especially legal mail.
OSHA agrees: Smoking wasp spray a problem in Illinois prisons
Illinois OSHA issued a hazard alert letter to IDOC Acting Director LaToya Hughes on Feb. 26 based on its investigation that began in the fall following exposure incidents at Menard and Dixon Correctional Centers.
In the letter, IL OSHA Chief Erik Kambarian agreed with what our union has been telling the department for months: due to the symptoms of those exposed, “a number of exposure incidents have likely involved the practice of ‘wasping’ where an individual in custody is found smoking paper impregnated with wasp spray.”
IL OSHA recommended that IDOC continue efforts to identify and characterize unknown substances, communicate with employees about measures they can take to protect themselves, implement an “effective, multi-faceted, and long-term unknown substance reduction program,” and conduct a statewide comprehensive assessment to respond to the problem in the department.
IL OSHA requested that Hughes provide a written response to the hazard alert letter within 60 days. While its recommendations are non-binding, we are encouraged that the agency has agreed with our position that inmate smoking of wasp spray is putting staff members in danger – and is a department-wide problem that needs a department-wide solution.
AFSCME will continue pushing to make sure that the epidemic of drug use in Illinois prisons – including smoking wasp spray – is fully rooted out so that staff members can do their jobs without the fear of exposure to these toxic chemicals.
Temporary assignments trending down due to union diligence
Within IDOC, temporary assignments have long been a problem, as management has often used them to fill vacancies rather than hiring more permanent employees to combat the rampant understaffing in the department. However, due to AFSCME’s diligence in pressing management on this issue – in state bargaining, the Recruitment, Hiring and Retention Task Force, the IDOC standing committee, and other formations – we have begun to see a steady decrease in the number of temporary assignments within IDOC.
The March TA report showed that an additional 50 vacancies were filled since AFSCME met with IDOC in December – and we are expecting the total number of temporary assignments to be under 150 ahead of the next meeting with management in April. As of now, there are no temporary assignments exceeding a year that are not long-term LOA situations or those associated with the recently ended hiring freeze. The union has also ceased agreeing to extensions for RC-06 employees temporarily assigned to RC-14 and 28 clerical positions and, in most cases, the agency has begun temporarily assigning the appropriate employee from within those bargaining units initially or providing voluntary OT in those units while filling vacancies.
Decreasing the number of temporary assignments from a high of over 600 in 2015, ensuring they are of a reasonable duration, and filling positions with permanent employees through timely promotion has been a long fight. Thank you to all of the AFSCME local union leaders who have contributed to making a difference on this important issue.
Fire at Pontiac Correctional Center an important safety reminder
On March 5, a fire broke out in the furnace area of the administration building at Pontiac Correctional Center. Once the fire broke out, the building was evacuated, with all staff moved out of the building while the fire was put out.
Fortunately, nobody was injured by the fire – and due to the protocols in place, staff were evacuated safely out of the building. The incident is an important reminder: fires can occur at any time – so we have to be ready for them. Members are encouraged to review their facility’s fire safety protocols, and make sure they know what to do and where to go in case of a fire emergency.
Union puts protections in place at Stateville CC
Following IDOC’s wrongheaded decision to close Stateville Correctional Center, AFSCME’s key priority has been protecting the jobs and wages of the employees at the facility. The “layoff” process is now completed. As a result of the union’s work in impact bargaining, employees had options for positions at the NRC or at nearby facilities. In the end, no Stateville employee was involuntarily laid off, nor has any employee seen a cut to their wages as a result of a transfer or reassignment.
Additionally, in the aftermath of the closure, staffing levels at the NRC have improved and forced overtime at the facility has fallen sharply. Moreover, the hiring freeze at nearby facilities has now been lifted.
Kudos to Local 1866 president, Eugene Washington, and the entire local executive board who led the vigorous opposition campaign against the closure—and then helped to negotiate exceptionally strong employee protections in the subsequent closure agreement.