DOCCS: 20 corrections officers fired and over 5,000 lose health insurance due to strikes
Corrections officers on strike (file photo)
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York State is taking action against corrections officers who continue to strike at dozens of prisons instead of returning to work.
The state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision says over 20 staff members have gotten letters notifying them that they’ve been fired. In addition, 5,200 staff members have gotten letters saying that their health insurance coverage has ended.
Even though the union representing the corrections officers has reached a deal with DOCCS on working conditions, staff are still on strike at 32 of the state’s 42 prisons as of Wednesday. People walking the picket lines have told News10NBC that, although the deal addresses some demands, it hasn’t permanently repealed the HALT Act.
Prison staff went on strike to demand higher staffing levels, regulations on mandated overtime, and increased measures to keep them safe. The deal agrees to eliminate mandatory 24-hour overtime shifts, screen prison mail with technology to check for hazardous substances like drugs, and implement programs to recruit more staff like a referral bonus program.
The deal also suspends some parts of the HALT Act for at least 90 days and when a prison has a staff vacancy above 30%. The HALT Act limits solitary confinement to 15 straight days and bans solitary for pregnant people, those with disabilities, and anyone older than 55 or younger than 21.
Corrections officers say the act has led to an increase in inmates assaulting staff since it went into effect in 2022. People on the picket lines have argued that temporarily suspending parts of the act doesn’t do enough to keep staff safe.
After reaching the deal last Thursday, staff members had until Saturday to return to work for their scheduled shift or face consequences.
RELATED:
- Photos show National Guard sleeping on cots, mats in NY prisons amid corrections officer strike (March 3)
- Health insurance ending for corrections officers still on strike; National Guard still deployed (March 3)
- Prison guards at Groveland Correctional Facility face threats of job loss, penalties as they strike for better conditions (March 3)
- Tentative agreement reached between union and state leaders, aiming to end prison staff strikes (Feb. 28)
- Inmate describes ‘kid proportions’ meals and lack of programs amid ongoing prison strike (Feb. 25)
