By SHERRY HALBROOK
Experience is a great, if sometimes harsh, teacher. And PEF Region 2 Coordinator Jim Carr figures it’s time to share a few things he has learned in decades of state service and years of union activism about keeping people healthy and safe on the job.
His top advice: Think in terms of both short-term and long-term strategies.
“If we want to make changes,” Carr said, “our most important tools are persistence and tenacity. We won’t get the state to do everything all at once. We have to approach it incrementally.”
Carr has worked for the state of New York for more than 30 years, most of them teaching phys ed at Elmira Correctional Facility. Over those years, he’s taken increasing responsibilities in PEF, including steward, delegate, local health and safety chair and council leader.
Although he is now a PEF regional coordinator, Carr took a leadership role in dealing with a violent inmate assault on a PEF member at the maximum-security prison in January and is still working to improve protections for all workers at the facility.
Incidents such as this one, which involved a brutal sexual attack on a young female counselor alone in her office with an inmate, usually happen without warning and it’s important for local union leaders to think ahead about how to help affected members both immediately and over time, Carr said.
In this case, the victim was rescued by an alert corrections officer who became suspicious when he noticed the light off in her office and the door closed. PEF Division 222 and all of her co-workers provided strong moral support for her throughout her hospitalization and recovery.
Carr and the staff acted quickly to make sure she received immediate medical care, and comfort from a female co-worker until the ambulance arrived.
A family member e-mailed PEF to thank the union for its support, saying “PEF has been like an extended family in this crisis. Jim Carr’s quick reaction to locate the family and taking time to speak to our pastor was one example.”
HERO — State corrections officer Carl Hillman is thanked by PEF Region 2 Coordinator Jim Carr for saving a PEF member from an inmate’s attack.
— Photo by Lynn Tucker
Experience harsh teacher
Unfortunately, this was not the first time a PEF member was violently assaulted at Elmira, Carr said. Several years ago, a member was stabbed in the neck with a pen.
While he has had practice responding to these and at least two other attacks on members at Elmira CF in the last decade, Carr said it is still a learning curve, because each incident raises different issues.
“After the first one, I raised hell at a meeting with management,” Carr said. “I got a list of mental health and other contacts for the victim, and I made sure he got the necessary preventive medicines for HIV and hepatitis B.
“I’ve learned a little more each time,” Carr said.
Actually, any PEF leader or member who needs help coping with a health and safety issue should contact their PEF field representative or call the PEF Health and Safety Department. It is important to notify PEF quickly of any situation that threatens members.
First things first
Members need information about their rights and responsibilities, such as:
• How to report the incident and injury;
• C-3 employee claim forms and help applying for workers’ compensation;
• How to apply for state Crime Victim’s Compensation benefits;
• How to apply for PEF ATAC insurance, which pays benefits to members who are killed, kidnapped, held hostage or injured by an assault on the job; and
• Information about sources of emotional support and referral numbers for the Employees Assistance Program, and agency post-incident debriefing programs.
Many ways to help
Carr said it’s important to keep members informed and build a network of support for the member and for dealing with issues raised by the incident.
Just four days after the January 10 assault, Carr and Division 222 Council Leader Dale Smith sent their members a report on what had happened and what PEF was doing to help the victim and prevent further attacks.
In addition, they sent a letter signed by 236 Elmira employees to the district attorney, calling on him to prosecute the attacker. They collected approximately $1,300 to help the victim. And Carr sent a letter to the editor of a local newspaper protesting insensitivity in its coverage of the attack.
PEF Region 2 honored the corrections officer who rescued the PEF member.
Prevention best remedy
Carr and the Division 222 leaders continue to scrutinize the January attack to learn what can be done to prevent future incidents.
They’ve identified needs for:
• More corrections officers in the area where the attack took place — the second one on civilian staff there in just five years;
• Larger windows in the office doors and walls to make it easier to spot an attack;
• Policies and procedures to better identify inmates with a history of violent or sexual attacks;
• Greater protections for staff who must work with them; and
• PEF representation on the prison’s committee on (inmate) population management.
“We’re determined to learn and do everything we can to make our members safer,” Carr said.
The
Communicator July/August 05
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