SEIU Local 1984

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SEA Members Call for Return of Dignity and Respect

A strip search of a psychiatric social worker has union members demanding dignity and respect in the state's prison system.

A large crowd of SEA members and their allies in the labor movement provided the dramatic backdrop for a press conference and protest at Department of Corrections (DOC) headquarters on Sept. 28.

Union members demand respect as they show support for Hal McAllister.

Hal McAllister described his reaction to an incident that escalates a pattern of management disrespect for DOC employees. He endured the strip search in his own office on Sept. 15 during an investigation of contraband smuggling.

Justin Jardine, president of SEA Chapter 24, described morale at the State Prison for Men in Concord as sinking to an all-time low. It's getting harder and harder for the department to attract and retain qualified workers, which will affect public safety, he said.

Beth Campbell, SEA's first vice president, invoked a sense of solidarity with a traditional union slogan. "An injury to one is an injury to all," she declared in making a connection between members at DOC and the larger public workforce.

Attorney Chuck Douglas, the former N.H. Supreme Court justice with a strong reputation in civil rights cases, announced he would be filing a lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court.

"Hal McAllister has the guts to stand before you because he does not want another state employee to ever have to go through what he endured," Douglas said.

Watch this Web site for new developments on this issue.