NY prison guard strike prompts Gov. Kathy Hochul to deploy the National Guard
A New York prison guard strike prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to deploy the National Guard on Wednesday.
Hochul's office said 3,500 members of the New York National Guard started reporting for duty and will help "with tasks including distributing meals and medication to incarcerated individuals and help maintain general order and wellness in the facilities."
The governor is looking into legal recourse, like the state's Taylor Law, which compels employees to return to work. She got a court order to end the walkout and appointed a mediator to work toward a solution.
"I am directing everyone involved in these unlawful strikes to stop these actions immediately. Legal action has already commenced to ensure compliance," Hochul said in a video Wednesday.
Striking guards could be fined or face other sanctions under that law.
What the corrections officers want
Some staff have reportedly refused to show up for their shifts at 30 of the state's 42 prisons, including at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Westchester County, where a group of corrections officers picketed Wednesday morning. They bundled up in the cold and huddled by a fire, saying work conditions are no longer tolerable.
"We raise our right hand to help protect the people of the state of New York, but it's come to this," Corrections Officer John Bosco said.
Union officials say corrections officers are protesting for better pay, heightened searches of prison visitors and a reversal of recent reforms that limit solitary confinement.
The timing of the strike is interesting. Just a year ago, 73% of the union membership voted to approve a new collective bargaining agreement with New York state. But in Westchester and at picket lines upstate and across New York, strikers say the contract failed to adequately address concerns. Staffing is at 70% of pre-pandemic levels.
"Staffing crisis! These guys are being mandated to work 16- and 24-hour shifts, almost on a daily basis. It's a security issue. How can you do that work when you're that tired? This is a highly demanding job," spokesman Israel Sanchez said.
There's also anger at the so-called "Halt Act," which greatly reduced solitary confinement for incarcerated people prone to violence.
"Now these guys are all in population, they commit a major offense, they remain in population where they can hurt others and hurt us!" Sanchez said.
Union leaders acknowledge the strike is illegal and say they did not authorize it. The job action involves corrections officers and sergeants, but lieutenants and captains are not taking part.
Union representatives met with the governor's team Wednesday for a second straight day.
"Negotiations with the State have continued throughout today between NYSCOPBA and the Governor's Office towards a resolution," New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association spokesperson James Miller said Wednesday in a statement.
In an earlier statement on Tuesday, Hochul outlined several ways her office has worked to improve salaries, benefits and working conditions for corrections officers, as well as increase protections with body scanners and reducing contraband. She also said her office is working to improve recruitment and hire more officers.
"The safety and security of the staff and incarcerated population is paramount to me. I value the hard work and commitment of the men and women at DOCCS who have had to sacrifice time with their families due to the current staffing shortage. However, this illegal job action involving NYSCOPBA members is causing irreparable harm to the operations of the department and jeopardizing the safety and security of their co-workers within these facilities," Department of Corrections Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III said in a statement Tuesday, going on to say, "I am urging all those on strike to end this job action."
