Seven correctional officers were injured on Labor Day in three separate incidents, union officials said.

AFSCME Council 4, the union that represents prison officials, said the incidents happened at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, York Correctional Institution and Cheshire Correctional Institution.

The union said the first incident happened at 2:02 p.m., in York Correctional Institution, where an officer intervened in an ongoing fight between four inmates. They say the inmates had to be physically separated and restrained. While restraining these inmates, one officer sustained a severe injury to his left leg and ankle.

The officer received multiple fractures to the tibia, fibula, and ankle.

The union said state policies have contributed to making the day-to-day work of Connecticut's correctional officers more dangerous.

According to the union another incident occurred at 4:02 p.m., in MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison in Suffield, CT, an inmate charged at an officer, and the officer sustained a head injury while attempting to secure the inmate.

They say a chemical agent had to be deployed to subdue the resisting inmate and prevent further injuries to staff and other inmates.

Two officers had to be transported to an outside medical facility for evaluation and treatment of physical injuries, and a third officer sought outside medical assistance for a mental health evaluation due to the stress and trauma caused by responding to this violent incident.

The union said the final incident occurred at 8:29 p.m., at Cheshire Correctional Institution, when an officer intervened after one inmate began to choke another inmate.

"For more than a decade, Connecticut's prisons have been stretched to the breaking point. Then, the State Legislature passed the Protect Act, making a bad situation much, much worse. With increased out-of-cell time and reduced accountability for inmates who violate facility codes of conduct, rules that serve one purpose: to keep staff and inmates safe, the Protect Act forces correctional officers to shoulder impossible burdens," the union said. "The state refuses to hire the staff we need to safely implement these policy changes. Officers are being left alone in dangerous situations, and lives are on the line."