ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Correction workers at more than two dozen New York state prisons have been on strike since last Monday, protesting working conditions and violence against prison staff within the facilities along with demands revolving around pay, time off and retirement. With nearly all state prisons on lockdown, those on the inside struggle to get by.

While correction officers are making a number of demands, this has left not only inmates feeling unsafe and abandoned, but also their nurses, according to some family members.

“They can't protect themselves,” said Cassandra, who is the wife of a Groveland Correctional Facility correction officer. “They can't protect the inmates. Everybody's at risk.”

It has been nearly a week though, with hundreds of officers across nearly 42 prisons on strike.

“Until you have somebody that's working behind those walls and you hear the absolute horror that goes on again. My father-in-law has worked in this profession for 27 years,” said Kaitlin, a Groveland Correctional Facility correction officer’s daughter-in-law. “I would consider him a man that's not scared of much. But they can't expect to protect other people if they can't protect themselves and they aren't given the resources and support to do so.”

They have gone from leaving their position of employment, to striking outside of it.

“A major problem in the state of New York for these officers,” retired corrections officer David Sylvester said. “Ask yourself, 'Do you want to go into a boxing ring every day?' And that's what it is. I was actually bit by an inmate in the stomach. And then in the course of that, I [experienced] damaged to my shoulder, which I have a total of 60% loss in my shoulder. So through the course, I ended up having to retire if I [wasn't] fit to do the job anymore.”

Those striking are calling for safer and improved working conditions.

“They are working up to 40 hours sometimes and it’s ridiculous,” Cassandra said. “You worry that I am going to get a call or is someone going to come to my door and say, 'Oh, you know, your husband's at the hospital.'”

“The inmates are running wild,” Sylvester said. “There's no disciplinary in place anymore for these. This is why officers are getting hurt. This is why officers are tired. This is why everything.”

However, in the midst of the strikes, those left inside the facility have felt deserted and defenseless.

“I wouldn't want to go in there and say, 'Here's your medication,'” Cassandra said. “I mean, they're probably already going to be upset they didn't get their visit, so they denied the visits because everything was going on. And so they're probably going to be agitated. They don't want the National Guard in there. And that's not that anything is wrong with them. They want normalcy.”

As advocates continue to endure what they call a "waiting game" in the cold temperatures, the community support inside and outside of the correctional facilities continues to motivate their mission.

“Something needs to change so that this profession can continue, proving to be what they can be and taking care of themselves and the incarcerated individuals,” Kaitlin said.

DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said in a memo Thursday that a number of HALT Act elements "that cannot safely be operationalized under a prison-wide state of emergency" will be suspended until facilities can be safely operated, including a memorandum issued Feb. 10 by DOCCS, requesting a "comprehensive review" of security staffing with the goal to cut staff to 70% of current levels.

DOCCS responded to the protests on Sunday by threatening further punishments for striking COs.

The department released a statement saying anyone participating in the illegal job action would face administrative penalties and departmental discipline. That's in addition to having their health insurance terminated and their pay docked.

Meanwhile, any prison staff who returned to work would be immune from those disciplinary actions and receive a temporary increase in overtime pay.

Mediation between the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association and the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is set to begin on Monday.