Newsletter | January 2026

This week, the Joint Budget Committee approved a DOC funding request that increases prison capacity without addressing the staffing crisis that’s driving unsafe working conditions, forced overtime, turnover, stress, and burnout.

The JBC decided it needed to act in the short term and grant that request, but not without hearing from us about the need to address the bigger, long-term crisis plaguing DOC. We’ve made it very clear: we need legislators to work with us to fix the staffing crisis, because until we do, DOC workers, the incarcerated population, and public safety are all at risk.

That fight is happening at the DOC bargaining table too, where our team is fighting to make jobs better with better training, compensation, wellness support, predictable schedules, and safety. And we’re working with our community partners and the media to make sure the public knows what’s at stake.

If you work in DOC, now’s the time to put more power behind all of this work by signing up more members–the more we have, the stronger we are on all of these fronts.