Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LABOR NEWS—Correctional workers’ union council uses billboards to rally against Trump EO cutting, removing benefits, (May 22, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:American Federation of Government Employees | Federal Bureau of Prisons
By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.
The AFGE noted that correctional workers are the federal government’s lowest-paid law enforcement officers.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council of Prison Locals, which represents more than 33,000 federal correctional workers nationwide, has taken out a series of billboards across the country as part of a campaign seeking support from Congress in fighting back against Trump administration executive orders (EOs) removing or significantly reducing their benefits. The billboards call out 10 Republican members of Congress by name and read, “STOP ATTACKING LAW ENFORCEMENT[.] REJECT EXECUTIVE ORDER 14251.”
According to an AFGE press release, while many of the members targeted have publicly campaigned on their “unwavering support of law enforcement,” including officers of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), they have changed their stance and support in the face of EOs harming law enforcement officers. Specifically, EO 14251 deprives more than a million federal employees at BOP and other agencies of their collective bargaining rights. Because federal correctional workers are among the government’s lowest paid law enforcement officers, they rely heavily on their benefits and are in desperate need of additional funding. The actions of the Trump administration further cripple the already thin staffing structure of the BOP, which has faced a staffing crisis for more than 10 years, AFGE explained.
“Our law enforcement staff have been forced to work mandatory overtime or be augmented, a procedure where nurses, teachers, case managers, etc., work correctional services positions, at levels never seen before – all while there seems to be no further acknowledgement of the dangers this poses the staff, inmates and communities alike,” said Council of Prison Locals President Brandy Moore White. “We request that members of Congress immediately reject Executive Order 14251, and demand they not approve any budget where law enforcement officers’ benefits are cut or removed.”
The billboard campaign targets the following 10 members of Congress: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), Rep. David Joyce (R-OH), Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV), and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).
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