State begins firing striking prison guards

Yahoo

05-03-2025

PLATTSBURGH — Employment terminations for a 'handful' of striking correction officers began on Sunday, as the financial cost of the strike mounts.
New York Department of Homeland Security Commissioner Jackie Bray, who was joined by New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III, told the media in a Zoom meeting Monday that less than 10 officers across the state have been terminated so far.
'These are officers who have been AWOL for 10 days in a row on their work days and then missed that 11th shift,' Bray said.
'That will continue to evolve over the next several days.'
Bray said officers out on FMLA, worker's comp, or bereavement leave would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and that anyone with a valid reason to remain out would not be penalized.
Correction officers across the state have been striking at prisons since Feb. 17, advocating for safer working conditions, more staffing, and a repeal of the Humane Alternatives to Long Term Incarceration Act, which strictly limits the amount of time and which inmates can be sent to special housing units.
Representatives from the state and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and the New York State Correction Officer Police Benevolent Association sat down for several sessions with a mediator recently and eventually came up with an agreement.
The agreement or 'Consent Award' called for a suspension of HALT for 90 days and measures to limit required overtime shifts and to scan legal mail entering prisons. It also called for no discipline against the striking officers.
The deal set Saturday, March 1 as the date for all striking officers to return to work. Those who didn't return risked termination, potential fines and possible arrest for violating a court order, according to a statement from the correction officer's union, the New York State Correction Officer Police Benevolent Association, last week.
However, at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora and other facilities statewide, the proposal wasn't good enough and many correction officers are continuing to strike amid the state's threats.
Repealment of the HALT Act remains top priority for the correction officers and many have called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to use her executive powers in getting rid of it.
'I HAVE NO ABILITY TO CHANGE'
Martuscello said he addressed HALT in the Consent Award but a full repeal is out of his hands.
'In terms of repealing the law or making specific changes on terms of what conduct constitutes being able to be placed in a special housing unit or restricted housing, those are things that I have no ability to change. That will require the legislature to do so,' he said Monday.
'In terms of the executive order. As you know, the legislature can override an executive order with 50% plus one. So therefore, there's really no change that we can immediately make to the HALT Act, other than to go to the legislature to make changes.'
As of Monday, Martuscello said 32 of 42 prisons are still striking.
Bray said they're taking further action and terminating the health insurance for thousands of correction officers, who have been 'AWOL,' and their dependents beginning Monday, she said.
'None of these actions we take lightly,' she said.
'We have tried at every turn to get people back to work without taking these actions.'
TAYLOR LAW
The wildcat strike was unsanctioned by NYSCOPBA.
Bray said the state has the authority, under civil service law 210, otherwise known as the Taylor Law, to take these actions such as termination of employment and health insurance.
'Striking is absolutely illegal for employees and unions that are covered under that law,' Bray said.
'That's because our corrections officers, like many of our public sector public safety staff, are essential employees, and their showing up for work is essential for the safety of the state. When a violation of the Taylor Law occurs, the chief legal officer of the state, in this case the Attorney General, can seek contempt for those in violation, which she has done.'
Bray said no correction officers have been arrested yet, but over 350 have been named in the civil action.
'The Attorney General's Office is at a hearing this morning in an effort to begin civil contempt proceedings for those named officers,' she said.
'We would expect that to play out over the next several days before anyone was detained.'
NATIONAL GUARD COST
On Feb. 18, Gov. Kathy Hochul mobilized the New York National Guard to enter facilities across the state.
Bray said there have been 5,300 Guard members with boots on the ground in facilities. There's no timetable for how long the National Guard will be in state prisons.
'Our continuity of operations, for an event like this, is to leave the National Guard in place. and you know, both Commissioner Martuscello and myself have been to a number of facilities over the last 48 hours, the Guard is doing everything they can to continue to run those facilities professionally and safely,' Bray said.
'It is our sincere hope that … this illegal strike ends and ends quickly, ends today, ends tomorrow. Let's get back to work, but the National Guard will stay for as long as we need the National Guard to stay, and right now, they're doing a very good job.'
In response to the strike, so far, the state has spent $25 million, Bray said.
'We estimate that if the strike were to continue, we'd be spending approximately $106 million a month,' she said.
'The Taylor Law provides for both sanction in terms of detention and fines equal to what the state is spending to respond to the illegal action.'
LOOKING AHEAD
Asked what their long-term plan will be if the correction officers do not return to work, Bray said 'no matter when this ends or how this ends, our long term plan is, must be and is to recruit more corrections officers, because our facilities run safer when we're fully staffed.'
'And unfortunately, it has been exceedingly hard, even before the pandemic, but really accelerated by the pandemic and after the pandemic, to remain fully staffed. That's one of the reasons why this Consent Award included important things to help incentivize staffing. For example, the state agreed to an up to $3,000 referral bonus until folks return to work and we end the strike.'
While the Consent Award was agreed to by union leadership, it was not welcomed by the rank and file members who remain on the picket line.
The tense situation caught the attention of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville) who issued a statement Monday.
'New York Governor Kathy Hochul's disgraceful termination of hardworking correctional officers is the outrageous culmination of Hochul and Albany Democrats anti-law enforcement, HALT Act, Defund the Police agenda punishing our brave law enforcement officers and law abiding citizens,' Stefanik said.
'This abject failure has put the lives and livelihoods of our correctional officers at significant risk. I will continue to support our law enforcement and their families who make tremendous sacrifices to keep our communities safe.'