Prison officers union asks Whitmer to deploy National Guard amid staffing shortages

Lansing — A union representing Michigan corrections officers asked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday to activate the Michigan National Guard to address staffing shortages that have led to "dangerous working conditions" in the state's prisons.

Byron Osborn, president of the SEIU Local 526M - Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO), said in a letter to the governor that prison guards are being forced to work mandatory 16-hour overtime shifts and, at times, with "far less than the required numbers of officers."

Osborn argued conditions had worsened under Whitmer's administration, prisoners were being "coddled at the expense of officer safety" and inmates had taken advantage of "lax MDOC policies on prisoner discipline, classification and use of segregation."

"The conditions I’ve described to you are real," Osborn said. "If you are skeptical and wish to see for yourself, I’ll gladly escort you inside several of your prisons so you can speak directly with your corrections officers, not the administration, about the conditions. We’ve been seeking effective relief solutions from the Legislature and MDOC for years and are now to the point of desperation."

Whitmer's office deferred to the Michigan Department of Corrections response to the letter.

The department, in a statement Wednesday, thanked its corrections officers and acknowledged it struggled with staffing levels, noting vacancy levels at its prisons ranged between 4.3% and 36.3%. The department has tried to correct those staffing levels by negotiating raises totaling 18% since October 2020, improving working environments and operating several recruitment and training programs, the statement said.

"The situation facing MDOC staff continues to be challenging, but the solution is not a temporary measure such as bringing in National Guard members who have not been trained to operate in this environment," said Kyle Kaminski, acting spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections.

"The department and other stakeholders need to remain focused on efforts that can stabilize staffing in the long-term, including promoting the benefits of a career in corrections."

State Rep. Kara Hope, the Holt Democrat who chairs the House Criminal Justice Committee, said she would not presume to give the department staffing advice but said she's spoken with corrections officers who need relief. It appears the state has "a crisis on our hands," she said, one that is taxing officers and their families with longer shifts.

Hope noted the House Criminal Justice Committee has considered legislation to shorten prison terms "without compromising public safety." The legislation has stirred considerable controversy with Republican lawmakers who say it will result in the release of individuals convicted of serious crimes.

"Michigan has longer minimum sentences than other states, and 51% of the prison population is Black," Hope said in a statement. "We could work on resolving these glaring issues, which would help alleviate — if even a little — the MDOC staffing crisis."

Sen. Stephanie Chang, a Detroit Democrat who chairs the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, said she shares the concerns of the corrections officers.

"I also believe that the working conditions for our correctional officers is directly linked to conditions facing those incarcerated," Chang said. "I am eager to work with the administration and MCO on solutions that promote safety and wellness."

Sen. Sue Shink, a Northfield Township Democrat who chairs a subcommittee handling the Corrections budget, said she and others have been working to change state law to allow corrections officers to join the Michigan State Police pension system instead of the current defined contribution plan. She's hoping those types of long-term benefits could turn the tide when it comes to staffing, but the funding was unable to come to fruition in the budget passed last week.

"I’m still hopeful that we’ll be able to get it done eventually," Shink said.

State Rep. Andrew Fink, an Adams Township Republican serving as minority vice chair on the House Judiciary Committee, said the crisis hasn't received the attention or action it deserves. He called on the administration to "step up and support" the officers on the "front lines of our criminal justice system."

"The new budget, which I opposed, doesn't even offer signing and retention bonuses to fill vacancies and keep good, exhausted officers on the job," Fink said. "Thankfully, some officers are voluntarily choosing to delay their own retirement even without bonuses, but that still doesn't solve the problem."

Corrections officers 'out of options'

Osborn told The Detroit News that the union of roughly 5,500 corrections officers has "been banging this drum" on staffing shortages for six years, but Wednesday marked the first time the union had requested the National Guard be deployed to provide at least temporary relief to corrections officers.

The Department of Corrections' roughly 5,500 officers oversee the imprisonment of nearly 33,000 felons, an increase of about 295 prisoners from May 1, 2023 to May 1, 2024, according to data included in the state budget. Osborn argued nearly half of the 26 facilities in Michigan have vacancy rates over 20% and, for five of those facilities, the rate is over 30%.

"We just feel like we’re out of options," Osborn told The News. "To ask these people to keep working double shifts and live there just like the prisoners do is unacceptable and untenable.”

In a report earlier this year outlining the department's retention policies, the Michigan Department of Corrections told lawmakers it had recruited and hired more than 400 non-custody staff and 861 new corrections officers in fiscal year 2023.

"This effort helped reduce departmental vacancies and improve staff morale, while working towards the reduction of mandatory overtime," the department said in a report to the Legislature.

But during the same 2023 fiscal year, the department saw a total of 1,167 departures, 723 of those involving corrections officers, according to a report submitted to the Legislature earlier this year. Of the 1,167 departures, 97 were retirements, 105 were dismissals and 455 were voluntary departures.

Osborn said that "treading water" pattern — in which new hires barely break even with or lag departures — has been ongoing for several years.

Ray Sholtz, executive director of SEIU Local 526M - Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO), wrote in a Detroit News op-ed last month that the state is facing 900 corrections officer vacancies. He said the MDOC in fiscal year 2023 paid $112.6 million in overtime costs, with most going toward overtime pay for corrections officers.

The Michigan Department of Corrections' annual operating budget increased by about 0.2% from the current year to the next fiscal year starting Oct. 1 under the $83 billion budget passed by the Democratic-led Legislature last week.

That budget axes several programs specific to employees, including about $12 million set aside for signing and retention bonuses for corrections officers.

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