Day of Action supports state facilities

Thousands of caregivers, child protection workers, correctional officers, state police and other frontline state employees represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFSCME, Council 31 held a statewide Day of Action Thursday, March 15.

More than 50 events were held throughout Illinois, including one in Union County.

In a news release, AFSCME stated that the events would "bring together public service workers, community supporters and local elected officials to demonstrate the widespread opposition to Gov. Pat Quinn's harmful budget cuts that would undermine public safety, slash services for the most vulnerable and wipe out some 3,000 middle class jobs."

One of the Day of Action events was held on the square in Jonesboro, where support was voiced for the Tamms Correctional Center.

The governor has proposed the closing of the Tamms facility.

Several hundred people gathered on the Jonesboro Square for the Day of Action event.

Guest speakers included  former Tamms Correctional Center warden George Welborn, Union County State's Attorney Tyler R. Edmonds and State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton.

"The men and women who work at Tamms have done an unbelievable job, in an extremely difficult work environment," Welborn stated in a letter to the editor which appeared in The Gazette-Democrat on March 15, the day of the event in Jonesboro.

"To think that these outstanding state employees may lose their jobs because of a blatant political decision is disgusting," Welborn wrote.

"While Governor Quinn’s decision to close Tamms seems to be just another example of Illinois’ propensity to ignore sound ic policy at the expense of Chicago style politics, his subsequent decision to move the most violent and disruptive inmates to the Pontiac Correctional Center borders on delusional," the former Tamms warden wrote.

Union County State's Attorney Tyler R. Edmonds voiced his concerns about the potential impact of closing state facilities on the region. The services provided by those facilities are vital to the entire region, he said.

State Sen. Gary Forby said the fight is on to save the Tamms Correctional Center, other state facilities and their jobs.

"This is a fight we're going to win," Forby said. He said that closing facilities "is not the right thing to do."