Hector Travieso Miranda guards some of the most dangerous criminals in Puerto Rico. The veteran corrections officer knows he’s dealing with people that society wants to see locked up.  

“This is a job where you know you are going in fine, but you don’t know how or if you’re going to come out,” said Travieso Miranda, a member of SPUPR (Council 95) who works at the Sargento Pedro Joel Rodriguez Mateo Correctional Complex in Ponce, Puerto Rico.  

There was no union when he began working at that maximum security institution in 1996. After the workers formed a union through SPUPR, things began to improve over time, but safety remained a huge concern. Then, in 2019, an inmate killed Corrections Officer Pedro Joel Rodriguez Mateo, after whom the complex was later renamed.  

The death was preventable, Travieso Miranda said. That fact spurred the corrections staff to “raise our voices and be able to protest,” he said. “We couldn’t stand the abuse we were experiencing, and we needed to be respected.” 

Corrections staff ­— just four at first — started protesting in front of the prison. People dismissed them as “four stray cats,” but more quickly joined. Twenty. Then 100. The numbers climbed steadily until 800 people joined one protest. They took to the streets of San Juan and protested at the Capitol.  

Finally, their demands for greater safety, and better pay, equipment and working conditions were taken seriously. By standing together and using the voice they got by forming a union, the corrections staff each won a 15% salary increase, a $500 bonus, new uniforms, better safety equipment, buses to transport the inmates ­— and respect.  

“Everyone is listening to us. Wherever we go, they respect us. All we want is to be able to do our job,” Travieso Miranda said. “We do it from the heart because we like it. But we also want to have better working conditions, a better salary and better benefits. We want to continue to achieve more each day, each year.”  

 Public safety professionals are turning to AFSCME to build power at work, and advocate for safety on the job, better wages, good health care and a secure retirement. AFSCME members in corrections, law enforcement and emergency response defend our freedoms and our communities. Visit the AFSCME Public Safety website to get involved and learn more.