Shutdown adds stress to Danbury prison officer
Money is so tight for federal employee Tori Ruther, she had to stop herself from spending 99 cents on an iTunes song recently.
“I heard a song on the radio the other day and wanted to download it … but I was like, ‘Don’t do it. You never know when the charge is going to go through,’ ” Ruther said.
Since the government shutdown in late December, Ruther, 32, has worked without pay as a vocational instructor at the Federal Correctoional Institution in Danbury. The Stamford woman has missed one paycheck and expects to miss a second Friday as the shutdown continues, with no apparent end in sight.
She has called local senators and representatives — as well as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — every day since the government closure.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy took notice, reading one of Ruther’s letters on Facebook Live.
“This is becoming a very stressful situation financially,” her letter read. “The idea this would go on for months and years is disconnected from what is happening to real people across Connecticut.”
Murphy said Ruther, one of 800,000 federal employees across the country going unpaid, is being “held hostage” over a campaign promise from President Donald Trump to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.
Trump has asked Congress for $5.7 billion to pay for the wall, even though he repeatedly said Mexico would fund the wall during his campaign. Democrats have not budged in their denial of the request, saying the wall would do little to stop illegal immigration or the transportation of drugs into the country, since the vast majority comes in through legal ports of entry.
Democrats have urged for the government to be reopened while the border wall is debated, instead of keeping the government closed before coming to a compromise.
While the debate continues, some federal employees, including prison workers like Ruther, are being asked to work with no pay; others have been furloughed, meaning they’re not working, nor being paid.
Many federal employees live paycheck-to-paycheck, meaning even one missed payday can have devastating effects.
“Don’t believe this mythology that everybody who works for the federal government is making $100,000 a year. That’s just not true,” Murphy said, in his Facebook Live video. “If you are an entry-level employee, and you live in a high-cost state like Connecticut, your paycheck is just enough to cover your expenses for that pay period.”
The Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury is a medium-security prison for male and female prisoners and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
After four years working at the Danbury prison, Ruther’s base salary is about $77,000. Her day-to-day job involves teaching classes on horticulture to both male and female prisoners. She can have up to 15 prisoners in her class at once and is the only corrections officer in the room with them. Because she is part of the corrections staff, she can assume the duties of an officer in the prison at any moment, which means she can be in charge of safekeeping of incarcerated people.
While Ruther is content with her paycheck, she has to deal with a number of monthly payments, including a student loan balance of $90,000. Fortunately for her, because her loan is through the federal government, she was able to put it in forbearance, meaning payments can be delayed, but interest will continue to accrue.
Her monthly expenses also include rent, utilities, a car payment, car insurance, a cellphone bill, credit card payments, and groceries.
While she’s been able to stretch her last paycheck, missing another one could be costly.
“This idea that we have savings and can afford to go a month without pay is completely unrealistic,” she said, referencing comments by some that federal employees can survive with a temporary stoppage in pay. “I live in Fairfield County. It’s exceptionally expensive to live here. (Unlike) many people my age, I may not have children or family, but I have very large student debt and I just don’t know how this is going to be sustainable.”
She’s found that relief has been inconsistent to find. For example, one credit card company she uses agreed to defer her payment until February, while another wouldn’t budge on payment deadlines. Those two credit card bills are her main concern right now.
“I’m just being very, very frugal with what cash I have available to me, because once that cash is gone, it’s all credit cards,” she said. “It’s just like very stressful not knowing when this is going to end.”
Ruther said that while she is concerned about her financial well-being, others at the prison are in more dire situations.
A number of her fellow employees, she said, are married couples. Many have children, and have to pay for day care, a major expense.
“People are worried,” said Rob Curnan, a union executive vice president at the Danbury prison. “They are saying this could last months or years. We have a lot of single-income employees.”
In total, 262 corrections officers at the Danbury prison are working without pay. On top of money woes, the officers worry about the reaction of inmates to the federal government shutdown and the impact it is having on the officers.
“Inmates know this. They look to take advantage,” Curnan said. “We are looking for increased violence.”
Ruther, meanwhile, said she’s been able to get some help through family. One friend, she said, even offered to pay for her dinner one night.
“I have been so blessed in that sense in that I have very supportive family who have been able to help me,” she said. “I work with people who aren’t as fortunate as me in that sense.”