Pugsley closure update: notices issued today regarding voluntary transfers

Here’s an update about the members affected by the Pugsley closure.

• 60 officers in the layoff unit (45 from Pugsley, 15 from the Oaks) submitted voluntary transfer/appointment forms to leave the layoff unit.

• 56 of them will be placed at their first choice of facility.

• 2 of them will be placed at their second choice.

• 2 of them listed only one worksite, Baldwin TRV, which is at capacity. They were not granted a transfer.

Personnel offices at MPF and ECF issued notices today to members who applied for voluntary transfer/appointment. Release dates will be based on operational needs and will be coming at a later time.

MDOC will make a seniority list of the remaining MPF and ECF officers. That list will be used to fill FTEs at the Oaks. Officers who do not have the seniority to be placed at the Oaks will be issued a layoff slip and a preference sheet so they can be added to the state-wide departmental recall list.

Those officers will be placed at a facility listed in their preferences. They will also be on the layoff unit recall list.

More details can be found in the layoff packet MCO staff prepared for MPF and ECF members. Copies were also handed out to affected members at meetings.

Closures are difficult because they disrupt members’ lives. The prospect of being laid off, moving, finding new childcare, etc., is taxing. Most MCO Executive Board members have been through closures themselves and have experienced the worries first-hand.

However, MCO leaders are glad all but four COs who applied for the voluntary transfer/appointment were not only placed, but placed at their top facility.

Union leadership and staff will continue to do everything possible to mitigate the impact of this closure as much as possible.