Trucks with Army National Guard soldiers rumbled onto prison grounds across New York Wednesday to replace correction officers protesting on the third day of a work strike that's grown into a standoff.
A state judge on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order under the state's Taylor Law prohibiting correction officers from striking or engaging in other concerted work stoppages or slowdowns, according to a court filing in Erie County.
Additionally, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order activating more than 3,500 New York Army National Guard members to provide security at state-run prisons where correction officers are striking for safer working conditions. The order provides for additional overtime for COs and other staff still working, said Hochul, who also directed state agencies to retain independent mediator Martin Scheinman to negotiate an end to what she again called an illegal work stoppage.
"These disruptive and unsanctioned work stoppages are jeopardizing the safety of their colleagues, the prison population, and causing undue fear for the residents in the surrounding communities," Hochul said in prepared video remarks posted to her YouTube channel.
But many COs on Wednesday continued picketing, and as guard members arrived at Attica and Green Haven correctional facilities, many said they would continue protesting for an end to the HALT Act, improved staffing and changes to mandatory overtime rules, among other demands.
There was no shortage of support for striking COs at Attica from people who live in the tight-knit community. Current and former COs protested outside the facility on Wednesday. Supporters dropped off snacks, toilet paper, hand warmers and other items.
Almost everyone in town has a loved one, or at a minimum, knows someone who works behind the prison walls.
“Even just a little bit of something for them, knowing that people are out there caring and the support around the communities all across New York state is awesome,” said Wanda Irwin, of Attica.
Officers and sergeants participated in protests or refused to work their shifts at about 30 correctional facilities across the state on Wednesday, according to the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), which says it has not sanctioned or condoned the strikes.
The union said its leaders were meeting with members of Hochul's office and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to discuss the correction officers' concerns and work toward a resolution. But as negotiations were underway, spirits stayed high outside Orleans Correctional Facility, where dozens of people gathered to strike.
Those refusing to work said they were in it for the long run. Members of the community came to show support by delivering food and drinks, pallets for burning and honking horns of approval.
People who work at the Albion and Orleans facilities said they had reached an impasse. As the governor took her stand, some said there was no amount of money that could make their job tolerable, and they were willing to ride it out and take the economic hit to make things get better.
Albion & Orleans Correctional Facilities workers are on strike. Part of statewide efforts to roll back the HALT Act & decrease mandated shifts workers have to cover on a regular basis. People say they’re willing to go through financial hardship to make things safe. @SPECNews1BUF pic.twitter.com/nxetZQKPgW
— Viktoria Hallikäär (@ViktoriaKrista) February 19, 2025
The repeal of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT Act) is one of the main demands of strikers and protesters. The law, which went into effect in 2022, limits the use of segregated confinement and ends it completely for anyone who is pregnant, living with a disability, over the age of 55 or under 21. It also requires alternatives for rehabilitation.
COs said Wednesday they aren’t allowed to discipline inmates in any meaningful way, which leads to safety concerns. Tack that on to low staffing numbers, body scanning technology that’s only optional for visitors and frequent mandated shifts – sometimes for 24 straight hours – people said this breaking point was a years in the making.
“Everybody's worried about the convicts. Nobody's worried about the officers,” said Mike Redenbach, a retired CO at Albion Correctional Facility.
“It's so bad that the inmates are assaulting staff and they can get away with it," said Janine Coccitti, a retired CO at Orleans Correctional Facility. "Two inmates can fight, they can stab each other. They used to go to a special housing unit. They no longer do that.”
The governor's bottom line, however, is the strike is illegal and must end. She said National Guard members will support and supplement correctional staff to provide security and help distribute meals and medication to incarcerated individuals.
“As governor, my number one job is to protect the people of this state, and that includes maintaining order in our state prisons," Hochul said in the video. "Legal action has already commenced to ensure compliance. Do what's right. Do your jobs.”
That didn't shake anyone at Orleans. Protesters said they will stay until their issues are settled. They said if New York state fines or jails any strikers, many are prepared to walk off.
The Taylor Law prohibits public employees from striking, and states those who strike have two days' pay deducted from their salary for every day they’re out of work.
Another visible feature of the demonstrations has been protesters holding signs with the number 70, or 70% – the number they’ve been told is the new 100% in terms of staffing. Strikers say that level of staffing is detrimental to working conditions.
“They need to listen to these guys and they need to come down here and work one eight-hour shift and see what they deal with down here,” said Ed Kleitz, a retired Greene Correctional Facility correction officer.
Kleitz’s son works inside Coxsackie Correctional Facility where on more than one occasion, he’s been injured.
“Here’s an officer that hurt his leg on the job, doing his job like he’s supposed with an unruly inmate and breaks his leg. Didn’t know about it because they did an X-ray and it didn’t show up,” Ed Kleitz said.
An MRI later revealed the fracture. It’s a scenario that current and retired COs across the state say has become all too common. And they say inadequate staffing is to blame.
Correction officers said it’s important to remember what their job is — enforcing rules and keeping order within jails.
“It’s not just about us,” said Jim Stone, also a retired CO from Greene Correctional Facility. “Our job is to keep them safe and secure in the facility, and when we can’t do it, not only are the inmates getting hurt, we’re getting hurt.”
There were 2,070 assaults on staff statewide in the year 2024, far more than the previous four years, and already 160 recorded in the 2025 calendar year, according DOCCS.
Last week, an incident at Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County led to three minor injuries to staff members and the prison going on lockdown. That led to protests at Collins and two other Western New York prisons on Monday, and that grew to 26 sites on Tuesday.
Protesters hope by making a stand, state leaders will hear their concerns.
“Everyone wants to think it’s about money, it’s not about that,” Stone said. “It’s about being able to go home and being able to see your family.”
The group at Coxsackie appeared committed to seeing change through, and planned on returning to the protest site on Thursday morning.