Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 526M (also known as the Michigan Corrections Organization) is a Michigan-based local union of the SEIU, representing 6,000 corrections officers and forensic security assistants. The union advocates for corrections officers not just at the state level but also as part of nation-wide campaigns. [1]
Background
The Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO) was formed in 1943 to fight for safety regulations for corrections officers and stricter security regulations of Michigan’s prisons. Among its early milestones was getting medical tests and equipment to prevent the spread of diseases in prisons and securing supplement benefits for officers injured on the job. Since 2015, the MCO has sought to secure mental health resources for its members after a survey conducted by the Colorado-based Desert Waters Correctional Outreach found that many corrections officers suffer from PTSD, major depressive disorder, and anxiety. [2]
The union called for personal protective equipment and other safety amenities for corrections staff working during the COVID-19 pandemic. It collaborated with an external law firm to assist workers in filing for workers compensation after testing positive for the virus and bargained against officers needing to use leave time for quarantining. [3]
It actively fights against what it considers to be attacks on labor unions, such as right-to-work laws and the Michigan Civil Service Commission’s 2019 rule changes that aimed to prevent the union from bargaining shift transfers, overtime work, layoffs, and recalls. The union successfully convinced the Michigan Department of Corrections to rewrite these policies. [4]
Local 526M takes a firm stance against the privatization of prisons and prison services like food preparation and distribution. [5] In 2014, it went after food service company Aramark after maggots were found in prison food and mice and fruit flies in the prisons’ kitchens. [6]
Initiatives
One Voice
In light of calls for criminal justice reform after the death of George Floyd, the MCO partnered with One Voice, a national campaign comprised of labor unions, activists, academics, and politicians concerned with the question of how best to bring about criminal justice reform. MCO is largely supportive of such left-of-center calls for prison reform and is involved only as “stakeholders,” asking what corrections officers can do to help the cause. In its words, it seeks to shift attention away from “tensions between incarcerated individuals and corrections staff” and center it instead “on protecting the safety and interests of all who are impacted by the corrections system.” [7]
Move Forward Campaign
Local 526M’s Move Forward campaign aims to promote professionalism in the corrections industry in order to prove that corrections officers “can have a meaningful influence on policy” and influence “the direction of our statewide and national criminal justice systems,” specifically in regard to criminal justice reform. [8]
Funding
Federal tax returns filed by Local 526M in 2019 showed a total revenue of $3,547,706, total expenses of $3,579,320, and total assets of $4,148,076. [9]
Leadership
Byron Osborn is the president of Local 526M. He works at the Chippewa Correctional Facility, was elected to the Local’s executive board as a trustee in 2014, and was elected president in 2018. [10]
Ray Shotlz, the Local’s vice president, works at the St. Louis Correctional Facility and serves as the Marion Township Supervisor in Saginaw County. [11]
In 2020, former MCO vice president L. Kip Smith ran for a Muskegon County Board of Commissioners seat as a Democrat. [12] In 2019, Smith filed a formal complaint against Muskegon County Commissioner Zach Lahring for wearing a “Trump 2020” hat during meetings on the charge that it used “public resources” (the Muskegon County building) to promote a presidential candidate. Additionally, Lahring told MLive that the office of the Democratic Secretary of State was threatening and harassing him for wearing the hat. [13]