OPEA

A new safety campaign at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary (OSP) in McAlester is meeting with resounding success, according to OSP Chapter President Randall Lopez.  But, he says, not everyone appears to be on the same page.

“Standing Together for Safety” is designed to rally prison employees around a common goal of stopping mandatory overtime.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of interest in the arm bands,” Lopez said.  “Last night, however, a senior officer apparently stated that if employees wore the armbands, they would get in trouble.  That was very surprising to us, since this is simply a way of showing solidarity among OSP officers and employees.

“In fact, the entire City of McAlester is showing support.  The McAlester newspaper has published several articles dealing with the overtime issue and how it could ultimately be a safety concern.  Our state representative Terry Harrison has also done an interview with the paper,” Lopez said.

“We encourage all OSP officers and employees to continue wearing the armbands, until the time we are shown--in writing--where a DOC policy prohibits this.  We are still very concerned with the staffing shortages, mandatory overtime and numerous policy changes such as shift rotations that unnecessarily divide our staff.  We have been very patient in working with the administration about this but we have seen very little change,” Lopez added.

The Oklahoma Public Employees Association (OPEA) supports the OSP Chapter, and says the campaign’s title speaks for itself.

“‘Standing Together for Safety’ is what it’s all about,” says Sterling Zearley, OPEA Executive Director.  “We hope the mandatory overtime issue can be resolved quickly and without further conflict.”

The OSP Chapter of OPEA will meet from 11:30 am – 3 pm Friday, June 13 in the Recreation Room at OSP, and will discuss the safety campaign as well as other timely issues.

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