USP Thomson Local 4070

09/02/2026

We’re grateful to the The Gray Matters Collective Haley DeGreve for coming out and speaking with our staff at Thomson about su***de prevention today.

09/01/2026

CR PASSES

370-48

Bill to avert Sept. 30 govt shutdown heads to Trump's desk

09/01/2026

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1432832858715908&id=100089101323558&mibextid=wwXIfr

09/01/2026

Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act S. 307 just passed the House of Representatives and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed. We are grateful to the National Fraternal Order of Police, Illinois Fraternal Order of Police and Fraternal Order of Police Illinois Corrections Lodge 263, as well as Sen. Blackburn and Joni Ernst, for not giving up.

08/31/2026

This week, the Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act (S.307) comes up for a vote in the House, and it looks set to pass. We want to thank Senator Joni Ernst and Senator Marsha Blackburn for taking sexual attacks on staff seriously and pushing for real change.The U.S. Senate already passed this bipartisan bill, which directly addresses the safety concerns correctional officers face every day—especially sexual harassment and assault by inmates. At Thomson Federal Prison alone, female staff reported more than 1,600 incidents of sexual misconduct by inmates between 2019 and 2023.“We thank Senator Ernst for joining Senator Blackburn in leading the charge to protect correctional officers from harassment and sexual attacks by inmates,” said Jon Zumkehr,“This bill is a crucial first step, and we look forward to working with them on this and future legislation to make sure our members have a safer workplace.”

08/29/2026

Thank you Corrections1
We won’t stop until this bill is passed. Another correctional officer should not have to die because contraband cell phones in federal prison. This bill would change it from a misdemeanor to a felony for anyone inmates or Staff that has a contraband cell phone.

Lt. Osvaldo Albarati was killed in a 2013 ambush orchestrated from behind bars. A bipartisan bill would double the maximum sentence for smuggling a cellphone into a federal prison.

More details: https://www.corrections1.com/legal/bill-named-for-bop-lieutenant-killed-in-ambush-targets-contraband-cellphones?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

08/28/2026

Shutdown update
The House is scheduled to bring the continuing resolution (CR) to the floor for a vote on Tuesday, under suspension of the rules. This means the bill will require a two-thirds majority to pass. If approved, the measure will go to President Trump for his signature. The vote is expected to avert a government shutdown ahead of the September 30 deadline, avoiding any disruption before the election.

08/28/2026

To: BOP Administrators past and present
Those legislators to who the shoe fits
Since the murder of my son Federal Corrections Officer Eric Williams, I have worked toward attaining improved safety conditions for Federal Corrections Officers. I approached this with my wife and I, with an Advocacy Group we formed, and with partnering with CPL-33. Thirteen and one-half years have now passed. Where are we:
- Staffing levels are still way below proper strengths for keeping the integrity of the operation.
- Augmentation is still widely used.
- Mandated overtime continues to impact the stress levels, health, and family lives of the officers.
- Officers still wind up in hospitals with transdermal poisoning from drug laced mail. One officer has died.
- Cell phones are still used with impunity to conduct criminal enterprises and activity both inside and outside prison walls.
And what concrete actions do I see taken? A decision to remove the Master Agreement. Great idea. Now there is no way for the workers to engage the administration in an organized way to bring about the necessary changes to improve the safety of both the corrections officers and inmates alike.
Well, guess what? The lack of proper safety standards and equipment contributed to my son’s death. I will not give up this fight and neither will the core fighters of CPL-33.
Don Williams

08/27/2026

The Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Stopping Prison Contraband Act,
What the bill actually does: it changes the law so that if staff or inmates are caught with a contraband cell phone in a federal prison, it’s no longer just a misdemeanor. It becomes a felony, and it comes with a mandatory two-year prison sentence.
The goal is to make it much harder for illegal cell phones to circulate inside federal prisons.The bill has already passed the Senate without any objections. Right now, it’s pending in the House. Senators Grassley and Durbin have also included the same provisions in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which gives us another good shot at getting these changes across the finish line.
We have strong bipartisan support—Representatives Sorensen (IL-17) and Miller-Meeks (IA-1) have both signed on as cosponsors in the House. We’re optimistic that this bill will pass this year, and we’re not going to stop pushing until it does.

08/26/2026

My husband had been seizing illegal phones because inmates were using them to run drug gangs and direct criminal enterprises from behind bars,” she wrote. “The order to kill him came from inside Guaynabo itself, placed by an inmate using one of those phones

Helen Andujar Albarati
Widow of Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati

The legislation named for Lt. Osvaldo Albarati would double the maximum sentence for smuggling a cellphone into a federal prison