By C1 Staff
COLUMBUS — Prison workers and union members picketed Ohio’s prison agency Monday, demanding that more corrections officers be hired and that the state’s foodservice contract be scrapped.
The Cleveland reports that the union says changes are needed now more than ever to prevent incidents like last month’s escape of school shooter T.J. Lane.
The union is asking for 400 more officers statewide, as the number of corrections officers has shrunk by 500 in recent years due to privatization and job reclassification.
The DOC’s spokesperson JoEllen Smith declined to explain why her agency couldn’t meet the union’s demand to hire 400 more officers. She did however note that the DOC is looking to hire about 80 more officers thanks to a legislative funding increase earlier this year.
Smith also said the union has “mischaracterized” the state’s willingness to solve problems with foodservice privatization. She notes that her agency has been in arbitration with the union over the issue since April – the largest arbitration case in Ohio history.
Aramark Correctional Services contract with the state has been plagued with problems, from staffing shortages and sanitation problems to meal shortages and maggots found in food.
It has already been fined $272,000 by the state. Between September 2013 and July of this year, privatized foodservices has saved Ohio $13 million and likely prevented the closing of Hocking Correctional Facility.
The contract is expected to save the state another $16.9 million by next summer.