Employees of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will rally today to speak out against retaliation for filing discrimination complaints. In July, the American Federation of Government (AFGE) Employees Council of Prison Locals called on Attorney General Eric Holder and the United States Congress in July to hold Bureau of Prisons (BOP) leadership accountable for failure to make changes to the climate of retaliation and discrimination that’s running rampant in the federal prison system.
“Not only do correctional workers face life threatening situations on a daily basis, but they are facing retaliation from managers” if they complain about retaliation and discrimination by their bosses, said Michael Castelle, Sr., National Fair Practices Coordinator for the AFGE Council of Prison Locals. They also face unsafe correctional officer-to-inmate ratios created by years of agency underfunding. And they face retaliation from managers should they choose to file an EEO complaint in the system. “That’s the one that really stings,” says AFGE, which wants to stop management’s “cavalier attitude” toward the well-being of their employees. “A little accountability would be nice.”
The AFGE rally is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. this morning at the Department of Justice headquarters at 9th St. and Constitution Ave., N.W., in Washington, DC. Thank you to Chris Garlock of the Metropolitan Washington AFL-CIO Council for announcing this rally in today’s Union City (and for sharing this photo).
