The partial federal government shutdown is now entering month two, and federal prisons are desperately trying to hang on amid a shortage of staff and resources, it has been reported. According to CNN, which spoke with a handful of prison employees and a union president, the shutdown off means workers are logging double shifts, even asking maintenance and medical staffers to fill in for corrections officers. While CNN noted the Bureau of Prisons has denied the strike, Eric Young, the American Federation of Government Employees’ president of the Council of Prison Locals, told the outlet it was indeed occurring. In a plea to senators for help last Tuesday, Young wrote an open letter urging lawmakers to act to end the shutdown. The day before, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) also met with local prison workers, highlighting the roughly 3,000 in his state who he said “have been risking their lives each day as they continue to work without pay.”

Source: Huffington Post January 21, 2019 12:47 UTC