Labor Day is to honor workers. We must never forget that. Labor unions have worked long and hard to improve the lives of workers. Safety and reduction of injury is one area that directly benefits all workers.

Most workplaces are safer than they were a decade ago. In Nebraska, correction workers are experiencing dramatic and frightening increases in violence and injury.

The stories of riots and inmates assaulting workers are all too frequent.  The root cause is simple. We don’t have enough corrections workers. This also seems to be the case in Iowa.

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees/American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is fighting hard to get the governor of Nebraska to get more hands on deck and hire more workers to protect all corrections officers.

Wouldn’t it be great as Labor Day approaches if the governor decided to add more corrections officers and make that workplace safer? I don’t think we should hold our breaths for that to happen, but one can hope.

We can all lend our voices to support NAPE/AFSCME in its efforts. Keep up the good work!