Thousands of correctional officers at prisons around New York have been on strike for weeks protesting working conditions at state prisons, and while some have gone back on the job following a “consent award” approved by the state and union last Thursday, thousands remained on strike Sunday at press time.
The state has threatened those who remain on the picket line with possibly losing their job and health insurance if they don’t go back to work.
Retired Sgt. Rudy Pavlin, a spokesman for correctional officers at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, said Sunday the strike is continuing despite the state’s threats.
“The strike is still on here and around the state,” Pavlin said. “Some have walked back in in some jails but right now, the numbers appear to be quite strong that are still out up north and west.”
At the Coxsackie prison, Pavlin estimated about 140 COs went back to work over the weekend, but many remained on the picket line. At the more than two dozen prisons around the state where roughly 15,000 correctional officers went on strike in mid-February, Pavlin estimated about 12,000 remained on strike Sunday.
The “consent award” was agreed to by the state and NYSCOPBA, the union representing the officers, but the strike was never sanctioned and workers who remained on strike want the state to come to the negotiating table directly with striking officers.
Picketing COs in Coxsackie started receiving phone calls Sunday saying they could risk losing their jobs if they didn’t return to work. The first threats came a couple of days before, after the consent award was agreed to, claiming jobs would be lost if workers didn’t come back to work by Saturday.
“The threats started on Thursday to return to work or you will be fired and lose your health insurance,” Pavlin said Sunday. “Now, today, they softened their stance, it appears, and now it’s return to work by Monday or you could lose your job and health insurance. [Gov. Kathy Hochul] is just continuing to escalate instead of de-escalate the situation with everyone who is out.”
The COs are striking over concerns with safety and policies that are in place at state prisons.
“The only thing anyone here cares about is safety and security, not money that they are throwing around,” Pavlin said. “If they were to come back to the table with officers who are actually out on the line instead of talking to NYSCOPBA representatives who have not represented their members, we might be able to get something done.”
The strike started at prisons around the state in mid-February after two correctional officers at two prisons in western New York first went on strike. The strike quickly spread.
Officers and their supporters braved bitterly cold temperatures in the early days of the work stoppage and continued through last week to voice their discontent with work conditions and mandatory overtime hours that can lead to COs working 24-hour shifts.
Strikers also demanded the repeal of the HALT Act, which severely restricts the use of solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure. They also asked for staffing levels to be brought up to 100%, for all mail coming into the facilities to be screened for contraband and other steps for safer working conditions.
According to the state, the strike is not allowed under the Taylor Law, which prohibits state employees from going on strike, and was not sanctioned by the correctional officers’ union, NYSCOPBA.
Two days after the statewide strikes started, the governor activated the National Guard to help staff facilities where officers were on strike.
On Feb. 27, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a “consent award” to end the work stoppage and said both DOCCS — the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision — and the correctional officers’ union, NYSCOPBA, had agreed on terms.
“My top priority is the safety of all New Yorkers, and for the past 11 days, I have deployed every possible state resource to protect the well-being of correction officers, the incarcerated population and local communities across New York,” Hochul said in a statement. “Working with a mediator, we have reached a consent award to address many of the concerns raised by correction officers, put DOCCS back on the path to safe operations, respect the rights of incarcerated individuals and prevent future unsanctioned work stoppages.”
Mediator Martin Scheinman, Esq., said the first negotiating session between DOCCS and NYSCOPBA took place Feb. 24, and that it was clear the relationship between the two sides was “strained,” but that both sought “workable solutions.”
Under the consent award, the state and union agreed to changes in overtime, including making it “voluntary” if certain conditions are met. The agreement also continues the temporary suspension of the HALT Act, which severely restricts the use of solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure and deterrent to misbehavior by inmates. Other changes include securing a contract with a vendor to screen all mail delivered to inmates. Under the agreement, disciplinary action will not be taken against officers who participated in the strike provided they return to work by a set deadline.
Pavlin said the concessions in the consent award were not enough.
“Nothing was really addressed with safety and security,” he said. “They are never going to repeal HALT — that won’t happen — but if they amend it, that could go a long way, depending on how they amend it.”
A sign posted at the picket line on Route 9W called for the state to meet directly with correctional officers and not the union.
“The ‘consent’ award doesn’t address our safety concerns at all,” according to the sign. “They still want us to make their failed HALT program, no protections for us, we will now be required to ‘volunteer.’ And still no end to 24-hour shifts. They are still looking to cut jobs, putting security at risk. Policy makers need to work [with] front-line workers (not NYSCOPBA) to work on realistic changes that would benefit all parties.”