Latest on prison staff strikes: Mediator will help with negotiations on Monday
Groveland Correctional Facility in Livingston County on Tuesday, Feb. 18 (Photo: WHEC)
NEW YORK STATE — Negotiations will resume on Monday between the union representing corrections officers and leadership at New York State prisons, in an attempt to end the unsanctioned strikes.
Corrections officers have been on strike for a week at several state prisons, demanding higher staffing levels, no mandated overtime over 16 hours, and increased measures to keep them safe. Their union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, has not authorized the strikes and the state has called the strikes illegal.
On Monday, a third-party mediator will come in to help with the negotiations. Already, the NYS Department of Corrections has suspended parts of the HALT Act, which limits solitary confinement to 15 straight days. Striking prison staff have spoken out against the HALT Act, citing a rise in assaults on staff since it was implemented in 2022.
The state has deployed thousands of National Guard members to work at prisons while the strikes last. The state’s deadline for corrections officers to return to work without discipline passed on Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
You can watch our report from Groveland Correctional Facility in Livingston County from Tuesday here.