A correction officer strike and protests spread rapidly Tuesday to at least 25 prisons across upstate New York as prison guards demanded better work conditions. But the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) accused them of taking "illegal job action," and Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered the New York Army National Guard to guard the facilities if the strike does not end Wednesday.
Protests formed at facilities from the Hudson Valley to the Western New York, where the actions started Monday with three unsanctioned strikes at Collins Correctional in Erie County, Elmira Correctional in Chemung County and Groveland Correctional Facility in Livingston County, according to the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA). By Tuesday, protests had grown to all seven of the state correctional facilities in Western New York and several more across upstate.
Visitations were cancelled until further notice at the Elmira, Attica, Auburn, Five Points, Upstate, Clinton, Wende and Eastern New York facilities. State Police were assisting DOCCS by providing outer perimeter security at several correctional facilities experiencing job action strikes or increased staff absences, troopers said.
Outside some facilities, it was unclear Tuesday if COs were refusing to go to work or only protesting. A union representative said the workers were frustrated by mandated 24-hour work shifts, while being disciplined and even fined if they refuse.
The strikes were not sanctioned by NYSCOPBA, as the state’s “Taylor Law” prohibits public employees from striking. The law states that those who strike will have two days' worth of pay deducted from their salary for every day they’re out of work.
Correction officers who had refused to enter their workplaces issued demands for staffing and workplace changes, but also rescinding the HALT Act, which DOCCS said could not be changed through unilateral action and "would require changing laws and violating their own collective bargaining agreement."
The strike comes only two weeks after the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of Marcy Correctional inmate Robert Brooks a homicide. Body-worn camera footage released by the state attorney general shows multiple correction officers hitting Brooks, 43, while he was restrained at the prison. He died the next day at a hospital in Utica.
Hochul on Tuesday directed DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello and administration officials to meet with NYSCOPBA and end what she said was an "unlawful work stoppage that is causing significant public safety concerns across New York." But she said she was preparing to send National Guard soldiers to DOCCS facilities Wednesday and directed lawyers to work with the state Office of the Attorney General on legal mechanisms such as the Taylor Law to compel employees to return to work.
“The illegal and unlawful actions being taken by a number of correction officers must end immediately," Hochul said.
Some protesters, however, said on Tuesday that they weren't about to quit the picket lines. Spectrum News 1 covered several of the rallies across upstate.
Washington Correctional Facility
Dozens of COs and retired COs rallied outside the Washington Correctional Facility in Comstock as part of the unauthorized – but well-organized – statewide strike. Fearful of retaliation, many people asked not to appear on camera. Retired COs spoke for them, claiming a deterioration in working conditions had been years in the making.
“We’re here to show our support," said retired CO Mike Rovelli, who joined the picket line. "This is what they need. Change needs to happen.”
Group members said the worsening conditions include violence against prison staff, exposure to drugs and mandatory 24-hour shifts. They said they were also fighting a recent directive from the Martuscello.
“A week ago, he put out a memo to all superintendents, 'You’re going to run your jail at 70%,' and he said '70% is the new 100%,'" Rovelli said. "The jail couldn’t run properly or safely with 100% of staff. How is it going to run safely with 70% of the staff?”
The governor said Tuesday she has supported correction officers through increased salaries and benefits, contraband crackdowns and expanded recruitment efforts.
Rovelli said it wasn’t about money.
“Where in New York state do you have to work 24 hours without being able to go home?” he said.
Correction officers also called for reversing the HALT Act, which restricts the use of solitary confinement.
“When your kid misbehaves in school, there are repercussions. For the incarcerated population, there are no repercussions. There is no drug testing going on anymore. Drugs are running rampant in these facilities,” Rovelli said.
DOCCS officials pointed out that a lot of the demands would require new legislation. But protesters said it’s a sword they’ll fall on, and unless adequate change is made, they planned on being back out at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
- Spencer Conlin
Auburn Correctional Facility
Hundreds of striking correction officers and their supporters protested outside Auburn’s state prison Tuesday.
Brad Haskins worked as a CO for seven years, most recently at the Auburn prison, but resigned from the position in 2022.
“I resigned because there were a lot of issues going on with the department. It started small and I feel like it snowballed into something bigger,” Haskins said. “We weren’t able to defend ourselves and there were dangerous conditions.”
Contraband, including drugs and weapons, would come into the prison on a daily basis, Haskins said.
“I would have stayed in this job. It has good retirement, good benefits. There’s a lot of good reasons to work here in that aspect, but it got to the point where I felt it was too dangerous,” Haskins said.
While he no longer works in the facility, Haskins said he came out to support his former colleagues.
A current employee of the prison who requested anonymity due to the potential repercussions he could face said officers are being required to work double and occasionally triple shifts.
“We have recruitment and retention problems. People are leaving in droves because they can’t take this anymore. You have guards getting stuck for triple shifts, 24 hours, weekly,” he said.
Being short-staffed creates security issues, the employee said. He feels like those in charge are not listening to their concerns.
“They think we’re full of it and we’re not full of it. We work the jail. We’re boots on the ground; we pull the handles every day. We see it firsthand, and it doesn’t matter. It does not matter (to state leaders),” he said.
He and other employees have been in contact with their colleagues on the inside, and they are not allowed to leave.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure that they’re taken care of. Obviously, they’re our brothers as well in there and unfortunately, because New York state refuses to let people out of work, they’re stuck in there,” he said.
In an internal memorandum from Feb. 10, Martuscello acknowledged the issues with staffing which the employee said increases the danger facing COs and other staff.
“You’re dwindling your security coverage and there’s civilian staff that also work in there. You have civilians running the library, the shops, the industries and now they’re less covered. It’s like everything they’re doing is backwards,” he said.
- Emily Kenny
Attica Correctional Facility
Correction officers Tuesday protested outside Attica Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison and site of the worst prison uprising in American history.
“These men and women are in danger every day, especially in a maximum-security prison, excuse me, in every prison in New York state,” said Kevin Brun.
He worked inside Attica’s walls for more than three decades as a correction officer and sergeant. Now retired, he stood outside with his colleagues and friends calling for change.
“The time has come for these men and women to make a stand and show Governor Hochul that we’re not gonna take it anymore,” he said.
The crowd consisted of current and former correction officers and their supporters from Attica and the nearby Wyoming Correctional Facility.
“They need to get what they deserve and be treated with respect. It’s a poor work environment and nobody cares in government,” said Mark Achatz, a retired CO.
“What are they risking? Their jobs. And a lot of these guys are walking off the job because they’re mandated to work three shifts in a row, 24 hours straight,” said Chuck Johnson, a retired correction sergeant.
He spoke near the deadliest prison uprising in American history took place in 1971. Forty-three people lost their lives, including 11 correction officers.
“It’s unified, we’re together, we’re standing right in front of you, governor. We’re standing in front of the Department of Corrections and we’re not moving. We’re going to hold the line until change and safety has returned to men and women that work these prisons every day,” said Brun.
- Wendy Wright
Riverview Correctional Facility
With Hank Williams Jr. blaring in the background, about 100 correction officers, family members and retired COs rallied outside of the Riverview Correctional Facility in Ogdensburg on Tuesday.
Rallygoers made it very clear: If things don't change, the state can take and keep the jobs.
“Oh, it's horrible, it's horrible. I mean, when you're getting ready to go in to work the day before, you're literally feel like you're ready to throw up because, you know, you're going to go into work and it's going to be a battleground,” Riverview correction officer Andrew Lauson said.
Lauson has been here for seven years. He says right now, morale is at an all-time low and he is not sure it can get any lower.
“I mean, they've pushed us to the point where we can't do this anymore,” said Lauson.
He said he realizes he is putting his career in jeopardy by being outspoken, but says he is willing to risk it because he can no longer watch his brothers and sisters be treated in this way.
Attendees said they were not striking, but holding an information rally, a picket to let the state know they are fed up.
“These people have been convicted of breaking a rule of law and society, and then they come in here, and then there's no rules for them to follow,” Lauson said.
He said the three biggest changes needed are repealing the HALT Act, getting rid of body-worn cameras because, he says, officers are afraid to take any action under such scrutiny, and banning 24-hour shifts.
Picketers were joined by state Sen. Mark Walczyk and state Assemblyman Scott Gray. Both Republican lawmakers said these COs need to be heard.
“The union deserves better working conditions. It's up to the governor and it's up to the commissioner to figure that out,” Gray said.
- Brian Dwyer
Eastern New York Correctional Facility
In the Hudson Valley, active and retired correction officers gathered near the Ulster and Eastern New York correctional facilities in Ulster County, calling for a repeal of the HALT Act.
Jason Waugh, a retired sergeant from the Eastern New York Correctional Facility, said COs are overworked and underpaid.
“The staffing crisis that’s going on, it’s mandating people work 24-hour-plus shifts, which is very unsafe, unhealthy," Waugh said. "It’s causing family strife. It’s causing illnesses.”
He said he hopes to wake up government officials by noting what he said was inhumane working conditions for correction officers across the state.
- Darcie Ortique
The strike comes after an incident at Collins Correctional last week that led to three reported minor injuries to staff members and the prison going into lockdown.
“That was just a tipping point out here,” said Pamela Welch, executive treasurer of NYSCOPBA. “We’ve had, upstate has had, multiple exposures, repeated exposures, all across the state. Midstate’s had them. Marcy’s had them. It’s not isolated out west. This is statewide and the state’s been ignoring it.”
While the union cannot condone the strikes, Welch says they are “understandable.”
“This is a big enough problem as it is,” said Welch. “As far as the members, they’ve had enough. They don’t care if it’s going to cost them their job. They don’t care. They’re tired of going into work every single day, being unsafe and being treated worse than the inmates and they’ve reached their boiling point.”
The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) released a statement Monday, saying:
"Since Commissioner Martuscello took office, the State negotiated a new labor agreement with NYSCOPBA that includes yearly salary increases, increases in location pay, and paid parental leave. We have also instituted new policies and procedures to reduce the amount of contraband entering our facilities to increase the safety of all within our facilities. We value our employees and are dedicated to continuing the recruiting efforts to increase security staffing in all DOCCS correctional facilities to restore the important work life balance for all.
"The job actions initiated by some rogue NYSCOPBA members, at Collins and Elmira Correctional Facilities this morning are illegal and unlawful. We are committed to engaging the union in order to return staff to work and resume normal operations at the two facilities.
"Visitation at both facilities have been cancelled until further notice."