DOCCS commissioner declares strike over
2,000 COs who remain on strike terminated
Jackie Bray (left), commissioner of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, and Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martuscello speak during an online news conference this evening.
ALBANY – A three-week strike among corrections officers in state prisons is over, the commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner announced this evening.
Daniel Martuscello, the DOCCS commissioner, said 10,000 security staff – corrections officers and sergeants – are on the job today. That compares with 13,500 the day before the strike started. Martuscello said 2,000 COs have been terminated. They had until 6:45 a.m. today to report to work.
“The strike is over,” Martuscello said in an online news conference this evening. “After 22 days of this illegal strike, the governor and I are happy to report it is now ended.”
Martuscello and Gov. Kathy Hochul set a threshold for 85 percent of the workforce to report to duty today to meet conditions of a memorandum of understanding. The workforce is below the 85 percent, but Martuscello said he and Hochul will agree to the terms of that agreement.
“It’s time to recover, rebuild and recruit,” he said.
Some of the terms include a committee to review the HALT Act, which focuses on dealing with inmates in solitary confinement. The striking officers wanted the HALT Act rescinded, saying it has made prisons far less safe for staff and incarcerated people. The HALT Act has made it more difficult to punish inmates for breaking prison rules and harming staff and other incarcerated people, striking COs said.
The committee will include representations of the COs’ union, DOCCS and other parties and will make recommendations to the State Legislature about the HALT Act – Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act.
The HALT Act will be suspended for the next 90 days for programs within the prison, Martuscello said.
Photo by Tom Rivers: Many of the corrections officers and sergeants were on strike at Orleans Correctional Facility and Albion Correctional Facility. These signs shown Feb. 28 outside the Orleans Correctional Facility stated the COs’ displeasure with the working conditions and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
DOCCS also will commit to 12-hour shifts as it works to rebuild staffing. Corrections officers on strike said there was too much mandated overtime, with some officers required to work 16 to 24 hours. The goal is to avoid 24-hour shifts, Martuscello said. Officers will be paid an additional $100 if they volunteer to work overtime on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
COs and sergeants will be paid a 2.5 overtime for 30 days from March 6.
DOCCS will be working on a better system to screen mail for contraband.
Officers and sergeants who returned to work by today’s deadline will not face discipline for being on strike. Because of the Taylor Law, the staff were not legally allowed to go on strike.
The commissioner thanked the 6,000 National Guard members for their work in the prisons during the strike. They will continue in a “security posture” and will be drawn down as staff return to work.
DOCCS will launch an ambitious recruiting effort. Part of that includes a $1,500 referral bonus to staff for recruits who complete the academy and on-the-job training and then another $1,500 if they complete a 52-week probationary period.
“I want you to know I heard you,” Martuscello said in comments addressed to the COs and sergeants. “Your safety, your family, your work-life balance are important to me. I’m committed to continuing to listening to your voices as we move forward.”
