Thomson employees are upset about losing a retention bonus. Our Quad Cities News has been reporting on staff shortages at Thomson prison for several months now. Union leaders blame the decision to end bonuses late last year for contributing to the problem.
Union leadership tells Our Quad Cities News another employee gave a two weeks’ notice, and they expect another 17 to leave soon as well. Thomson has the most open positions of any federal correctional facility – that number is up to 122.
The retention bonuses were approved in 2021. They added up to about $16,000 a year. Union leaders say it kept up morale and kept people interested in those jobs in a rural area of the state where it’s difficult to get people to move to. Union leaders have some support from lawmakers for getting the bonus back but so far, it’s not paid off.
"Lack of safety, lack of programs. Our job just isn’t just to warehouse people, it’s to rehabilitate them and without the staff we’re not able to do that. That’s why we take this seriously because we need the staff here at Thomson," said Jon Zumkehr, president of Local 4070, representing employees at the United States Penitentiary Thomson in Illinois. "The majority of them come from the local community," he added.
"We still have a problem across the country in many areas particularly in rural counties where we have facilities and its tough to attract workers to come to them," said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois). "We’re going to continue that effort. Some incentives have to be offered to employees to come to work there and I think it’s well worth while to do that."
We’ve also learned a new bill creating new rules for federal prison oversight was introduced in Congress on Wednesday. It has been referred to a house committee for study. Our Quad Cities News will track the bill as details develop. You can find more information about that bill here.
City: Quad Cities,Feeds,News,QC,Northern,Region: QC
via WHBF https://ift.tt/HTj3mxG
April 11, 2024 at 07:07PM
Illinois Delivered 