Guard union plans picket over drug epidemic at Lucasville prison

Alleging contract violations and an “all-time high” of inmates obtaining drugs, the union representing corrections officers has scheduled a May 31 picket at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville.

The notice of intent to picket filed by the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association with the State Employment Relations Board states that “management has blatantly violated the contract on multiple occasions.”

The notice further alleges “the amount of illegal drugs in the institution is at an all-time high and management is covering up the number of failed drug tests to avoid having to report the numbers” to higher ups at the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

“This drug epidemic in this prison is leading to a more dangerous and volatile work environment,” the notice states of conditions at the maximum-security prison that also houses Ohio’s lethal-injection chamber.

Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170516/guard-union-plans-picket-over-drug-epidemic-at-lucasville-prison