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From Andrew Blankstein, Tammy Leitner and Rich Schapiro
The partial closure of the government created a delightful irony in federal prisons: inmates dined during lavish meals in front of their disgruntled employees.
The striking dynamics were manifesting in dozens of prisons across the country at Christmas and New Year's day, several workers told NBC News, which enraged the staff who were already worried for bills to pay and children to feed. 19659007] On January 1, CFI Pekin inmates in Illinois enjoy a steak and refined shrimp. A Cornish hen and a Boston Creme pie were on the menu at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. And prisoners from a federal institution in Minnesota were munching on chicken wings, according to staff members and documents obtained by NBC News.
"Do you make a gift to someone who has committed a crime, but you will not pay for the people who supervise them?" Sandy Parr, Food Services Foreman at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, NY Minnesota, "It's frustrating and infuriating."
This closure marks the last test for a group of about 36,000 federal employees who complained about the shortage of personnel and its dangers. working conditions for months.
In addition to working without pay, many prison staff, including prison officers, have been ordered to shorten their holidays or suffer loss of wages and administrative penalties, including suspensions.
Employee friendly staff, working inmates continued to receive government salaries for their prison work, including building painting, cooking meals and mowing lawns.
"It's like we're hitting someone when he's on the ground," Joe Rojas, president of Local 506 of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) in the federal penitentiary complex Coleman, Florida, wrote in a recent letter to the Bureau of Prisons.
In an interview with NBC News, Rojas explained that some inmates mocked the demoralized prison staff while feasting on a New Year's lunch consisting of a grilled steak, macaroni biscuits with garlic and various holiday pies.
"They take a hearty meal and we work during the holidays away from our families wondering if we can pay the rent or go home," he said.
June Bencebi, an official with the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, expressed her frustration.
worried about appeasing these detainees rather than making sure we get paid, "said 47-year-old Bencebi.
Bencebi was working on Christmas and New Year's Day when inmates juggled chicken and Cornish roast, cheese macaroni, and Boston cream pie, and other treats for dessert.
"Many staff members were unhappy that we did not know where our next meal would be served, and that these inmates were getting enough food to serve twice," said Bencebi, who is as well as the treasurer of the local union of prison workers.
The Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that the holiday meals are "planned weeks in advance, including what happened here before the government closed."
Special dinners are served on vacation to "promote the morale of the prison population because she is separated from her family," the statement added. "At Christmas, an establishment can serve a special meat, such as a Cornish hen or a special dessert."
Eric Young, National President of AFGE Prison, said it was "despicable" for the federal government to serve meals of choice to inmates while forcing staff members to give up their wages and their holidays.
"Imagine it at a time when staff members can not put food on the table or gas in the car," Young said. "You can imagine what it does to morale."
Young adds, "We are the collateral damage resulting from their politics."
Some federal prison employees, ready to leave without their next paycheck, took a second job to make ends meet.
Instead of returning home after work at FCI Mendota in California, Aaron McGlothin spent many nights searching for fares while driving for Uber.
"I've never wanted to drive Uber, but I do not know if I'm going to have a pay check at the jail," said McGlothin, a correctional officer. "And so I do not have a choice." "It's kind of embarrassing for me," he added. "Not everyone has significant savings.Some people live by paycheck I am one of them."
For Dwayne Bautista, correctional officer at FDC Honolulu and president of the local, the financial consequences of the closure are not his.
The 16-year-old veteran fears that the closure of the government will endanger the safety of prison staff. Some staff members calling for health reasons have forced a small team to handle all normal operations of the establishment. According to Bautista, in some cases, workers work shifts of 16 hours.
"These people will be exhausted and risk making bad decisions," Bautista said. "Working daily more than 16 hours is unhealthy, I just hope the government will open."
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