Teamsters union picketers from Clallam County’s two prison facilities will demonstrate in Port Angeles and Forks on Wednesday as part of a statewide protest over safety conditions.
Union representatives said Friday that Corrections officers from Clallam Bay and Olympic corrections centers will picket from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Goodwill Industries parking lot, 603 S. Lincoln St., in Port Angeles and at the Forks Transit Center Park & Ride at the corner of Forks Avenue and E Street.
The workers are represented by Teamsters Local 117 in Tukwila.
“We want [Department of Corrections] headquarters to take our safety seriously, and that is every person that works at the prison,” said Pam Olekas, Olympic Corrections Center shop steward.
Death prompts protests
The protests are part of the Teamsters’ effort to draw attention to prison safety issues in light of the death of Officer Jayme Biendl at the Monroe Correctional Complex on Jan. 29, said Olekas and Clallam Bay union shop steward Greg Bellamy.
Other Teamsters protests will be held Wednesday in Monroe, Aberdeen, Gig Harbor, Pasco, Shelton, Tumwater, Vancouver and Walla Walla.
State Department of Corrections spokeswoman Belinda Stewart said Friday that agency Director Bernard Warner is traveling the state and talking with prison staff about their concerns.
Stewart added that a review by a team from the National Institute of Corrections, which will begin Monday, could lead to statewide changes.
“They are charged with looking at policies and procedures, staffing and single-post positions,” she said.
Biendl, 34, was working alone in the Monroe facility’s prison chapel when she was strangled.
Byron Scherf, 52, serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, has confessed to the murder, according to court papers, saying he was angry with how she spoke to him.
According to the Teamsters union, she had complained previously about working alone.
Bellamy said he expects “a handful” of protesters in Port Angeles and about 20 in Forks.
There are 900 inmates and 300 uniformed custody staff at Clallam Bay and 376 inmates and 54 uniformed custody staff at Olympic, Bellamy and Olekas said.
Staffing levels
“Staffing levels have been an issue for several years,” said Olekas, a correction records technician who has worked at Olympic for 15 years.
She said women education staff are often left alone with inmates with just a phone and no radio.
“They’ve got to spend the money to ensure the safety of the staff, and that is everything from radios that actually work to surveillance-type cameras,” she added.
“It’s just not good.”
Bellamy, a Clallam Bay Corrections officer for 23 years, said he feels the prison administration does not listen to the staff’s concerns.
“Whenever we bring up issues with them, they say we are taking orders from headquarters,” Bellamy said.
Since Beindl’s death, “a couple of guys made verbal threats to female staff,” he added.
“We put them in segregation. Our awareness went up. We need cameras on the officers at all times. We’ve been bringing up these issues for a long time over the years.”
Bellamy said gang-on-gang violence rather than violence against officers has been the most recent violence-related issue at Clallam Bay, a maximum-security prison.
Olekas said in recent months, there have been a couple of fights and minor uses of force at Olympic, a minimum-security prison 25 miles south of Forks.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
