Correction officers continued their illegal strike Tuesday as they call on state lawmakers to repeal the HALT Act, as well as other demands dealing with pay and mandated overtime.

Mediation began Monday and is scheduled to continue through Thursday as the state navigates serving orders against more than 300 individual officers, and New York state leaders spent Tuesday fielding questions about how the strike could end.

Gov. Kathy Hochul infuriated family members of correction officers gathered at the state Capitol by claiming in a Tuesday morning news conference that it was unclear why the strike was taking place.

“We want to find out what the issue is because the individuals who walked out in an unsanctioned strike, unapproved by the union, have yet to tell us the issues,” she said.

The governor’s claim comes nine days into the strike— nine days of those on the picket lines begging her to take action to fully repeal the HALT Act, which significantly restricts the use of solitary confinement.

“I don’t believe that it’s about benefits and pay. I’m not aware that it is. We’ve suspended parts of the HALT Act,” she said.

The governor’s assertion that aspects of the HALT Act have been suspended is technically accurate. Along with a controversial memo declaring 70% staffing to be 100%, DOCCS suspended unspecified parts of the HALT Act last week, but those Spectrum News 1 spoke with who are close to the situation say the suspension is worded to only extend until DOCCS can “safely operate the prisons” and not tied to any reform effort.

In that case, they say, the state could simply reinstate those aspects of HALT as soon as it is determined that the prison can be safely operated, a condition that could theoretically be met by officers complying and returning to work. 

A group of wives and family members of correction officers who traveled to the state Capitol and visited the press section of the building Tuesday afternoon responded to the governor's remarks.

”It’s ridiculous. She knows exactly what we want. We would love for the HALT Act to be fully repealed, but we want it to be temporarily suspended until it can be reviewed and revamped,” said a woman named Nicole who identified herself as the wife of a correction officer. 

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told reporters shortly after the governor's remarks that she is open to conversations about reforms, but emphasized that correction officers must go back to work in the meantime.

When asked if that could include a repeal or overhaul of the HALT Act, Stewart-Cousins dismissed the idea.

“Practices that have been deemed torture by the United Nations and others is not something we want to employ in our prisons,” she said.

Four state Senate Democrats representing districts that contain state prisons, including state Sen. James Skoufis, put out a letter this week calling for significant reforms to the corrections system.

Skoufis stressed that a repeal of HALT is not going to happen, but other actions are on the table. He said that includes amending state law to require all visitors go through a body scanner which is consistent with one of the demands listed by the officers.

“We need to talk about body scanners and doing away with the opt-out provisions to keep contraband out of our prisons,” he said. “We need to talk about the thousands of unfilled positions that are resulting in these mandated, required double shifts, triple shifts not once in a blue moon, but every single week. These are achievable common sense measures.”

“I don’t know what their agenda is in not wanting to make both officers and inmates safe, the data is there,” Nicole told reporters, citing DOCCS data that shows violence between incarcerated people as well as violence against correction officers has increased since HALT went into effect.

With the power to set the state’s agenda, the governor continues to receive the bulk of frustration from those advocating on behalf of correction officers.

“Is she sleeping? Is somebody not informing her?” state Sen. Dan Stec said in response to the governor’s claim that the issue has not been thoroughly communicated.

Quiet on a HALT Act repeal, Hochul did indicate an openness to discussing how to address the staffing crisis specifically.

“You may have a shift that you thought was 12 hours, it went to 16, it may even go to 24 and that is not acceptable to me,” she said. “It’s not good for them, their families, or our state, but right now I have to backfill 15,000 jobs?”

Advocates argue that it would be challenging to recruit enough workers to solve that staffing crisis with HALT in place, citing the danger of an environment with limited options for deterrents.

Hochul was stern when asked by reporters to respond to officers’ concerns about their own safety leading to the strike.

“Whose safety are we talking about?” she asked. “Leaving almost the entire incarcerated population and the members of our state workforce who feed them and provide medical care, and mental health services — leaving them alone, unprotected, is not my definition of public safety.”

As the strike is ongoing, officers are being docked pay for each day, and Hochul said health insurance is next. 

“If you are striking, you are [AWOL]. You no longer secure the right to have health benefits from the state. That goes away,” she said.