CO union expects offer from state today about labor dispute

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 27 February 2025 at 12:05 pm

Photo courtesy of Scott Joerger: Scott Joerger of Rochester, whose son is in the National Guard, holds a sign on Wednesday with striking corrections officers in Albion at Gaines Basin Road, across from the Orleans Correctional Facility. Joerger’s son is currently assisting in one of the prisons in Albion. “Get the professionals BACK TO WORK!” the sign states. About 6,500 National Guard members have been activated to work in the prisons during the strike. Joerger said he supports the COs and hopes their concerns are addressed by the state.

The union representing corrections officers said it expects the state will make a formal offer today to striking COs who have refused to go to work in the prisons for about 10 days.

Day three of mediation between the union and the state concluded at midnight last night, said James Miller, spokesman for the union, New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association.

“The leadership of NYSCOPBA is meeting with the State late this morning,” Miller said in a message to the media. “It is expected that the State will have a formal offer to the demands of those who have refused to work during the labor dispute. I don’t have any information on any concessions or what demands will be met.”

Many corrections officers went on strike Feb. 17 at Collins and Elmira prisons, and those strikes spread to the majority of the 42 prisons in the state by the next day, including the two prisons in Albion.

As public employees, the correction officers can’t legally go on strike, according to the Taylor Law. A judge also told the COs to return to work. The union hasn’t sanctioned the strike.

Correction officers say the prisons have been understaffed leading to mandatory overtime that often is 60 to 80 hours a week for officers. They say they are spending too much time away from their families.

Officers also want an end to the HALT Act, which has changed the way solitary confinement is used as punishment. The union says the HALT Act has made the prisons less safe, resulting in more attacks from inmates on other inmates and staff in the correctional facilities.