TAMMS, Ill. -- Medical contractual employees at the Tamms Corrections Center conducted an informational picket near the prison here Tuesday concerning negotiations between the Illinois Department of Corrections and their employer, Wexford Health Services, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The medical workers are represented by the American Federation of State and County Employees, AFSCME Council 31, at Marion, Ill.

The union won a contact for medical contractual employees at the Big Muddy River Correctional Center, after conducting a 15-day strike in December of 1998.

"This is a not a strike," said AFSCME Council 31 spokeswoman Debby Lippincott, of the Tuesday picket.

Lippincott said that negotiations had been under way for about year.