AFSCME at Two Rivers Correctional Institute
by Don Loving

UMATILLA — Tami Davis wanted to make sure she stayed an AFSCME member. So when she was selected as one of the first 10 employees to staff the new Two Rivers Correctional Institution here, she took the proverbial bull by the horns.

"It was the fall of 1998, and there were 10 of us assigned here at Two Rivers," Davis recalls. "Most of us came over from EOCI (Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution) in Pendleton, and there were a couple from CRCI (Columbia River Correctional Institution) in Portland. So we all had been in AFSCME-represented units, and everyone was generally supportive of AFSCME, but someone just needed to take the initiative and let the Department (of Corrections) know we wanted to stay that way." So Davis, a correctional sergeant, took charge. There was a meeting, a vote, and the deed was done. The COs at TRCI would be AFSCME.

Again, that was late 1998. Today, construction workers are quickly putting the finishing touches on Oregon's newest correctional facility, and soon, inmates will begin pouring in. As the inmate population swells, so too, correspondingly, will the number of COs. And thanks to a recent arbitration decision, when new officers come to TRCI, they will bring AFSCME seniority with them.

"That was a big decision for us," says Davis. "Our Article 25 (working conditions) language wasn't completed on that issue. The Department wanted DOC seniority here, which would mean someone could jump us if they transferred here from OSP in Salem [where COs are not AFSCME-represented]. "We had been trying to work out an agreement through our labor/management committee, but that just wasn't working," Davis continued. "So finally, we took it to arbitration, and the arbitrator agreed with us."

Of particular concern, says Davis, was that some day OSP could be closed. The original "state pen" is an old facility with mounting physical costs;it is also a political hot potato sitting on prime real estate as Salem grows. "When and if that facility closes, we don't want those non-AFSCME people coming into our facility and bumping us on the seniority list," said Davis. "We're AFSCME, and it was important that we stayed that way."

At present, there are just under 100 minimum security inmates at TRCI. While some engage in community work crews, many are actually working on projects involving the main institution's construction completion. Come mid-February, medium security inmates will start arriving at TRCI, to be housed in the institution's main facilities (and separate from the minimum security area). Eventually, TRCI will house as many as 1,500 medium security inmates. "It will be very interesting — and very different — when that all occurs," said Davis. "For myself and the rest of the original 10, it will be quite a change. But this will be a state-of-the-art correctional facility, and an excellent opportunity for corrections officers to advance their careers. "It's all going to be very good."