Strikers: Only handful of guards returned to work
DANNEMORA — Despite threats of termination and a loss of health insurance benefits, correction officers remained standing firm on the picket line Monday.
'They are dug in and staying strong,' retired officer Daryl Menard said.
The 15th day of the wildcat strike outside Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora saw another large crowd of officers braving the freezing temperatures around burn barrels most of the day.
Officers across the state began their strike, which is not sanctioned by their union, the New York State Correction Officers Police Benevolent Association, on Feb. 17.
Their chief demands are safer working conditions inside, which focus on more staffing, less double and triple shifts, better mail and visitor screening for troublesome contraband and a repeal of the Humane Alternatives to Long Term Incarceration Act, which strictly limits how long and which inmates can be sent to special housing units.
The state and leadership of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision met with union representatives and a mediator several times last week and came up with an agreement, but the rank and file on the picket lines are not satisfied.
The agreement called for a suspension of HALT for 90 days with an evaluation afterwards, a shift in overtime schedules, more screening and no discipline for striking officers.
The deadline for them to return to work was this past Saturday.
While official numbers of those who decided to leave the picket lines and go back to work were not available, those on the picket line at Clinton Correctional Facility Monday said only a small number of officers went back to work.
MARTUSCELLO VISIT
On Sunday, DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III visited Clinton and several other prisons across the state.
He issued this statement: 'I've been talking to a lot of staff over the past weeks, yesterday I was on the road visiting facilities and will be traveling to several prisons again today to thank those that continued to work and welcome back the staff that are returning to their facilities.
'My message to you is this is the final push. Tomorrow, Monday, March 3, anyone who remains on strike will have their's and their dependents healthcare removed retroactive to the first day they were AWOL, and you will not be eligible for COBRA.
'I want you to come back to work today. If you missed your shift, you should still report, and know that we will continue to have open dialogue on making facilities safer places to work.'
Officers on the line Monday said they are at the point where they are willing to lose their jobs and find other employment rather than go back inside and risk their lives with no major changes to safety policies.
Menard said most of the officers want to go back to work, but they are not willing to lose their lives over their jobs.
'These guys out here (on the picket line) are some of the best officers we have and they are honorable and damn good people,' Menard said.
'They are not afraid of doing their jobs, but enough is enough and they don't want to put themselves or their families in jeopardy.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
Several Killed in Shooting at Austrian High School, Public Media Reports
The police in Austria are responding to gunshots fired in a secondary school in the southern city of Graz. Officers are still trying to clarify the situation on the ground and coordinate a response that includes specially-trained COBRA units, Austria's version of a SWAT team. According to the Austrian public broadcaster ORF, officials have confirmed several dead, including the shooter. Graz is Austria's second-largest city and a vibrant, wealthy university town. It last experienced a major mass attack a decade ago, when a man killed three people and injured three dozen more in a vehicular rampage through the city's streets that ended with him attacking bystanders with a knife. Police said he had a history of domestic violence and that his wife had recently left him. On Tuesday, police confirmed that their response was focused on a building at a major high school in the north of the city, close to the train station.
Newsweek
4 hours ago
- Newsweek
Austria School Shooting, Several Casualties Reported
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. 🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur. A shooting at a school in Austria has left several casualties, according to local media reports from the country. Austrian police confirmed they and other emergency services are on the scene in Graz, including Cobra, a tactical unit. The school is BORG Dreierschützengasse. This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Suffolk jails forced to hold 125 prisoners set for transfer because of state chaos
Suffolk County's jails are being forced to hold onto 125 felons who were supposed to be transferred upstate — with officials blaming state government chaos for the delay, The Post has learned. County Executive Ed Romaine blamed Gov. Kathy Hochul and said housing a growing number of state prisoners is putting staff in a dangerous situation as taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of thousands in estimated extra costs. 'They've been convicted and are supposed to be in state prisons and they're not because the state is just not taking them,' Romaine told The Post. Advertisement 'Now, why is the state not taking them?' the Republican added. 'Well, [Hochul] fired 2,000 corrections officers striking for better working conditions and she's closing prisons around the state.' 4 Suffolk County's jails are being forced to hold onto 125 felons who were supposed to be transferred upstate. New York Post Under state law, inmates sentenced to hard time in state prison are supposed to be transferred upstate within 10 business days. But Romaine said that has changed in the aftermath of labor unrest with the corrections officer union and Democratic governor. Advertisement He said the delays are now causing headaches across the system, from administration to the inmates themselves. Most of the detainees in the two county jails — in Riverhead and Yaphank — are people accused of low-level crimes that are being held for trial and have not been convicted. They are now bunking alongside convicted criminals who were intended to only pass through the system. 4 Under state law, inmates sentenced to hard time in state prison are supposed to be transferred upstate within 10 business days. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine pictured. James Messerschmidt Romaine added that the influx of roughly 125 felons is raising serious safety and management concerns for staff. Advertisement 'Our jail staff are already spread thin,' Romaine wrote in a letter to Gov. Hochul in May obtained by The Post. 'I understand that the state faces similar staffing challenges, but it is unfair to shift this burden to the County with minimal financial compensation and little to no collaboration.' The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision blamed the backlog on system-halting staffing shortages that were sparked after the state fired 2,000 corrections officers who participated in an unauthorized, nearly month-long strike in March. 4 Romaine added that the influx of roughly 125 felons is raising serious safety and management concerns for staff. Newsday via Getty Images Romaine shot back that the staffing shortages should be Suffolk's problem. Advertisement 'The law says they're state ready, then they need to be in state prisons, not local jails,' he said. New York State is reimbursing Suffolk $100 per day for every inmate stuck in the county jails, but Romaine said the county pays $250 per day for each, meaning taxpayers are on the hook for the extra $150. 'The warden and his staff calculate that we have expended approximately $280,000 in excess of what we have received from the state to house these state ready but unclaimed prisoners since February,' Romaine wrote in the May letter. 4 New York State is reimbursing Suffolk $100 per day for every inmate stuck in the county jails. New York Post More inmates in lockup means more guards are needed to work — with more overtime costs, he added. Romaine warned that if the backlog continues, it could lead to dangerous overcrowding and unravel the work the county has been doing to improve jail conditions. 'This is unsustainable long term,' he said.
