Federal prison workers in Florence escape one shutdown, brace for second
With Democrats, Republicans, and President Donald Trump coming to a temporary agreement to end the shutdown, federal workers here in southern Colorado hope to get back to the normal day-to-day. However, that may be easier said than done.
When the President announced an end to the shutdown Friday people who worked at the Federal Supermax Prison in Florence let out a sigh of relief.
These 3,500 estimated people, by the lack of income for the past month, say they aren’t ready to celebrate just yet.
DC has just three weeks to discuss security on the southern border, and if they don’t come to an agreement, the shutdown could continue. It’s s omething Richard Arko and John Holbrooks, President and Vice President of the Council of Prisons Local 1169 the union that represents the prisons workforce, are fully aware of.
“Yea I’m back to saving money again,” said John Holbrooks the Union’s Vice President. “We are making things right at home so if it does happen again I am prepared. The impact could be even more this time than the last shutdown. It would be horrific, and it would put a lot of people in worse shape than it did before.”
We first met with Holbrooks and Arko a week ago as prison families affected by the shutdown were getting food at My Neighbors Cupboard, a local food pantry.
Even if the Government remains open past the three-week point, Arko says the damage is already done.
“I think it is a permanent impact,” said Arko, the Union President. “I think the shutdown will also hamper the ability for us to hire more staff in the future cause we already have a hard time getting enough staff. I think that people are going to think twice about working for the federal government.”
For Arko and Holbrooks, it’s their biggest takeaway this past month. They are small fish in the eyes of DC politics.
“We are pawns that’s all we are,” said Holbrooks. “We are just there for their amusement and play. They don’t respect what we have to do. They don’t respect our jobs.”
“I don’t think politicians care about working people at all, none of them, either party,” said Arko.
As for when the federal prison workers in Florence will be paid their last two paychecks, things are still unclear.
Arko says Human Resources is working through the weekend to make that happen as soon as possible. Checks could come as soon as this week or on their next pay date of February 8th or 9th.
