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 The striking officers wanted the HALT Act rescinded, saying it has made prisons far less safe for staff and incarcerated people.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.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Elks Lodge #1006 in Albion on Saturday teamed with WIC representatives to distribute baby food, diapers, clothes and others supplies to new parents. Pictured from left include Donna Boland, WIC nutritionist at Oak Orchard Health; April Flesch, trustee for the Elks in Albion; Lynda Standish, secretary for the Elks; and Linda Johnson, WIC outreach coordinator for Oak Orchard Health.

The Elks in Albion used a $4,000 grant from the grand lodge to assist 15 households in a community baby shower. Elks volunteers and teamed with representatives from WIC to buy supplies needed for new mothers.

The expectant moms received a diaper bag, sippy cups, onesies, crib sheet, stroller, portable crib, bottles, diapers, books, rattles, soothing baby noise machines, a baby bath tub, pack and play and other materials.

The WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program provides free, healthy foods and personalized nutrition education, breastfeeding support and referrals to other services. WIC staff were able to refer expectant mothers in Albion to Saturday’s community baby shower.

“It’s beautiful,” Donna Boland of WIC said about the Elks effort on Saturday. “It’s nice to be able to help people when they need it.”

A baby doll is in a portable crib. In the background, Betty Sue Miller from Hoag Library met with some of the mothers about the importance of reading to young children.

DOCCS sets today as deadline for staff to return to work and have health insurance reinstated and not face disciplinary action

Photo by Tom Rivers: Corrections officers on strike are shown Feb. 19 on Gaines Basin Road in Albion across the road from the Orleans Correctional Facility. Officers said they were working too much mandatory overtime, keeping them away from their families.

ALBION – Correction officers are not outside in a demonstration today across from the Orleans Correctional Facility.

They had been out there on Gaines Basin Road since Feb. 18, typically with about 100 current or retired officers gathered near burn barrels.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision on Thursday evening announced it wouldn’t take disciplinary action against striking corrections officers if they returned to work today. DOCCS would also immediately reinstate their health insurance if they were back to work today.

Daniel Martuscello, the DOCCS commissioner, also vowed to create a committee focused on safety dealing directly with effects of the HALT Act. Corrections officers said the HALT Act was their primary motivation in going on strike. COs wanted it rescinded, saying that legislation, dealing with solitary confinement, had made prisons less safe for staff and inmates.

The commissioner also said DOCCS would continue a 2.5 overtime rate for 30 days from day employees return to work. Each prison will allow staff to transition from 12 to 8 hour shifts once normal operations return, and that will be determined facility by facility, Martuscello said. DOCCS will move away from 24-hour shifts, he said, to restore a life-work balance, he said.

DOCCS also will work with contractors to better screen mail to keep out contraband to better protect staff and the incarcerated population.

“I’m here to say that I heard my workforce,” Martuscello said in an on-line news conference. “I want to support them and continue to support them and continue to work on the safety issues that they’ve raised while out on the line. I want to end this illegal strike. We need to get back to some form of normalcy. and this delivers the things that they’ve asked for. I am determined to make sure that I deliver for them. They deserve it. We’ve heard them. We need them. They play an important role in public safety.”

The National Guard will remain in “a support posture” and will draw down their presence as staff return to prisons, he said.

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 on Thursday.

Commissioner Bray said corrections officers and sergeants need to return today and won’t get another offer to return without discipline.

The state is prepared to remedy all of its rights, criminal and civil, to end the “illegal” strike, Bray said.

“We want you back, we need you back,” Bray said.

Those who have been terminated due to the strike will have their termination notices rescinded if they show up today at work, she said.

Some of the local corrections officers have returned to work, others have resigned and some are remaining on strike but are just staying home rather than being outside, a retired sergeant from Orleans Correctional told the Orleans Hub.

“Sadly it appears that this was all for naught,” the retired sergeant said about the strike that stretched 2 ½ weeks so far.

DOCCS appealed to corrections officers directly yesterday after the union declined to signa  memorandum of understanding with terms to end the strike. The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association represents about 13,000 corrections officers.

“NYSCOPBA was not appropriately engaged in the development of the currently circulating agreement,” union spokesman James Miller said in a statement Thursday. “This agreement was not negotiated with NYSCOPBA—the legally recognized entity through which all negotiations must be conducted. There are substantial legal issues that must be addressed, and as presented, this agreement does not represent the best interests of our membership.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – These trumpet players in the Albion Middle School band perform during Wednesday evening’s All-District Concert in the high school gym.

The concert featured the elementary, middle and high school bands. More than 1,000 people attended the concert in the gym.

Mike Thaine leads the high school band in a medley of music from The Lion King. Thaine and Greg Martillotta, the middle school band teacher, are both retiring after this year. The two are both Albion grads who have devoted their careers to their alma mater.

Kailee Anstey plays the saxophone in a solo with the high school band.

March is celebrated as “Music in our Schools Month” throughout the country.

These clarinet players keep their focus in the elementary school band.

Lindsay Almeter leads the beginner band of fourth graders and also fifth graders as par tof the elementary school band. The concert was the first since the gym received a new floor, paint, scoreboards and other improvements.

An elementary student plays the trumpet during the concert.

Greg Martillotta, the middle school band director, played the guitar with the band during “Crazy Train.” They also played “Lean On Me” and other songs.

All three bands – elementary, middle and high school – joined together in concluding the concert with “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple

Photos courtesy of Marsha Rivers

ALBION – The Rev. Dr. Don Algeo, pastor of the Gaines Congregational United Church of Christ, gives the benediction to a Ash Wednesday service at the First Baptist Church in Albion.

Several churches in the Albion Ministerium planned and led the community service.

People received a cross of ashes on their foreheads. The ashes are from the burnt palms from the palms from about a year ago on Palm Sunday.

The Rev. Brenda Bierdeman of the Free Methodist church gives the message during the service.

Ash Wednesday starts a 40-day Lenten season for Christians around the world.

Lent is a time for reflection and repentance in preparation for the celebration of Easter, which this year will be celebrated on April 20.

Albion’s Lenten lunches start March 12 for five Wednesdays at noon at the Albion First Baptist Church, 30 West Park St.

Clarissa Steier plays the trumpet and Kay Marsh is on the piano for “Lift High the Cross.”

ALBANY – Daniel Martuscello, the commissioner of Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said today that corrections officers who remain on strike on Monday will lose their health insurance.

Their dependents on their health insurance plans also will be cut off, and they won’t be eligible for health insurance through COBRA.

“My message to you is this is the final push,” Martuscello said in a message posted on the DOCCS Facebook page.

Corrections officers have been on strike for nearly two weeks, beginning at Elmira and Collins facilities on Feb. 17. By the next day the strike had spread to the majority of the prisons, including Albion and Orleans.

“I want you to come back to work today,” Martuscello said. “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.”

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.

Photo by Tom Rivers: This miniature clay model of a reindeer was created by Brian Porter of Pendleton in Niagara County. He would like to make the reindeer as a bronze statue to tie in with Albion’s Christmas heritage as a home to a school for Santas.

ALBION – The Village Board on Wednesday gave its support to a sculpture of a reindeer, but the board wants the project to be funded with donations and grants – not taxpayer dollars.

The board held a public hearing on Wednesday about whether to commit village funds towards a life-size model of a reindeer. It would cost $12,500 to have Brian Porter make a clay model of the reindeer.

Village Trustee Joyce Riley is leading the effort for the new sculpture, which she sees as a community-building project and a way to further promote Albion’s heritage as the home of a school for Santas and also the Christmas Park attraction led by the late Charles Howard in the 1950s and 1960s. Howard established the Santa School in 1937 and ran it until his death in 1966. The school continues in his name in Midland, Mich.

The clay model of reindeer is needed before it can be cast in bronze. The bronze statue would cost an estimated $65,000. Duplicates of the reindeer could be made with a less costly metal. Porter is the sculptor who made the bronze statue of Santa in Albion and also the soldier in Medina by the YMCA, which was originally the Medina Armory.

Riley would like to see many of the reindeer around the community. She thinks the reindeer will add to other recent efforts with the statue of Santa in honor of Charles Howard, and Christmas-themed signs and murals. The Albion Betterment Committee also is working to have a Santa House on Main Street next to the Presbyterian church and a municipal parking lot.

Deputy Mayor Greg Bennett said continuing to build on a year-round Christmas theme makes sense for Albion. But he doesn’t want taxpayer funds committed to the project, especially when village taxes have been on the rise. The 2024-25 village budget increased taxes by 6.6 percent with the tax rate passing $20 per $1,000 of assessed property for the first time.

“I’m all for this,” Bennett said about the reindeer sculptures. “It’s branding the community and taking Christmas to another step. I love the idea but we’ve raised taxes so much on people.”

The board voted to create an account where people can donate towards the project. Albion received the first $200 towards the project during the meeting when code enforcement officer Chris Kinter and sewer plant chief operator Aric Albright each gave $100.

“You want a destination location for people to come to,” Kinter said.

Riley said she would donate, too. Her brother Xavier Riley, now a Texas resident, attended the meeting and said he would contribute as well. He thinks the reindeer and Christmas focus present an opportunity for businesses to sell merchandise and entice visitors.

Debbie Thies, a Albion resident, spoke during the hearing and said she supports the reindeer sculpture.

“I love the reindeer idea,” she said. “I think Albion needs to take advantage of Christmas.”

Riley said she is confident the $12,500 can be raised from donations. She would like those funds to be raised by the end of April so Porter can then be hired to make the clay model in time for an Erie Canal festival in late September.

Trustee William Gabalski also said there are other lower-cost options for a bronze reindeer. He showed her one bronze option for about $10,000. Riley said she would look at that option, too.

Gabalski said he thinks the reindeer make sense for Albion, but he doesn’t want taxpayer money to go towards it – “given all we are up against.” The board is facing budget challenges from many fronts, he said.

Governor urges officers to return to work; praises those who stayed on job and 6,500 National Guard assisting in prisons

Photo by Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul: Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks today in Albany after a public safety roundtable.

ALBANY – An angry Gov. Kathy Hochul told corrections officers on strike to end their unsanctioned strike and get back to work, saying their absence has put prisons and the entire state at risk.

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.

“Let me be clear: the illegal actions being taken by a number of individuals is putting the entire state at risk,” Hochul said during a news conference in Albany today following a public safety roundtable. “We need them back to work; this must end immediately.”

Today is the second day of a mediator meeting with state officials and the union representing the corrections officers. The union didn’t officially support the strike.

“We’ve done everything we can to encourage them to get back to work,” Hochul said. “They know they are in violation of the New York State Taylor Law. They also are in violation of a temporary restraining order to return to work.

“We offered an amnesty period where they could go back to work, no questions asked. We also repealed a staffing memo that had been viewed as controversial. We also suspended portions of the HALT law, which requires a certain amount of time out and other activities that we do not have the staffing to implement.”

Hochul said 6,500 members of the National Guard have been deployed to help fill the void of the lack of staff.

“That means that they’ve been taken either from their homes or critical assignments — whether they’re protecting assets in New York City or elsewhere against terrorism,” the governor said.

She said the striking COs need to make a “good faith effort” to resolve the strike. She said she understands the frustration about long hours with mandatory overtime.

“We need more of you on the job, I get that,” she said. “But, we have a situation right now, which is absolutely untenable, especially the fact that there were prisons left unguarded — think about that. The incarcerated population was left unguarded. There were people from other unions, people who work in health care, and the commissary, who were left unprotected by these actions.”

Photo by Tom Rivers: The National Guard has been helping with staffing at the two prisons in Albion since last Thursday. This photo from Friday shows some of the National Guard vehicles at the QWL site on Washington Street.

Hochul said she is thankful for the National Guard and the corrections officers who have stayed on the job or returned to work.

The state is taking legal proceedings against those who are not coming to work, and she said their health insurance is no longer entitled from the state.

“People took an oath of office to protect the public,” she said. “We have to get back to ensuring that that oath is kept. There’s an enormous strain on our system right now. I encourage everyone to come back to work. We hear you with respect to the long hours.”

The governor said the prison population is about half of what it was and she is moving to close or “consolidate” some of the prisons to maximize every beds in the facilities.

 “In fact, we’re transporting members of the incarcerated population as we speak to take them to other facilities where I can protect them more readily,” she said. “So, that’s where we are. That’s the status. We’re very engaged and look forward to a resolution as soon as possible.”