By Thomas Geyer
Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus, Ill.
THOMSON, Ill. — About 30,000 Bureau of Prisons employees, including about 350 at the Federal Correctional Institution in Thomson, Illinois, are once again covered by the collective bargaining agreement between the Bureau of Prisons and the National Council of Prison Locals, American Federation of Government Employees .
A federal judge on Friday granted a motion to enforce its Sept. 29, 2026 , preliminary injunction. The court declared the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Oct. 7, 2026 , re-termination of the collective bargaining agreement void.
The local announcement was made in a news release by AFGE Local 4070 , which represents officers and staff at FCI Thomson.
Bureau of Prisons director William Marshall III has twice tried to cancel the agreement between the Bureau of Prisons and the union.
The first time Marshall tried to cancel the agreement was on Sept. 25, 2025 , as the Trump administration issued a number of executive orders suspending collective bargaining between the government and unions for national security purposes. Marshall called the agreement an obstacle to progress.
However, on Sept. 29, 2026, a federal judge in Connecticut’s federal district court ordered the reinstatement of the agreement. Union attorneys filed a suit in November 2025 , arguing that Marshall’s decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
On Oct. 7, 2026, Marshall tried to void the agreement again. In that memorandum, he rescinded his termination order of Sept. 25, 2025 , and ordered the termination of the agreement. In his order, Marshall relied on the Trump Administration’s executive order regarding national security issues.
Marshall’s attempt to void the agreement came one day after the American Federation of Government Employees filed a motion to have Marshall held in contempt for not reinstating the collective bargaining agreement and force the government to abide by the contract.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Vernon Oliver declared the re-termination of the contract void and ordered the Bureau of Prisons to abide by the collective bargaining agreement that is to run through May 28, 2029 .
After the judge’s ruling Friday, Jon Zumkehr, president of AFGE Local 4070 , which represents officers and staff at FCI Thomson, said in a news release that “Today’s ruling is a win for the law enforcement officers at Thomson and for the rule of law.”
“Correctional officers have an incredibly difficult job,” Zumkehr said. “They face a suicide risk seven times higher than the general population and die by suicide at higher rates than police officers, yet some people still want to attack these workers and strip away their contract.
“We will continue fighting until the protections our members negotiated, and that the court ordered reinstated, are fully implemented at FCI Thomson,” he said.
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Thomson is a low-security institution with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp, according to the Bureau of Prisons .
As of Saturday, there were 2,148 total inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Thomson . Of those, 2,001 inmates were at the Federal Correctional Institution while 147 inmates were at the Camp, according to the Bureau of Prisons .
The employees at Thomson are represented by AFGE Local 4070 . Zumkehr said in an email Saturday that there are currently about 350 law enforcement officers at the facility. He added that the facility is currently understaffed by about 40 employees.
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