Bill Sticht, who worked for more than 25 years at Collins Correctional Facility, told The Buffalo News on Wednesday why he stood in support of the roughly 100 strikers outside the prison in Collins, NY. The strikers’ union does not condone the action, according to its regional vice president…
ALBANY – State prison officials on Saturday warned that officers striking outside 38 correctional facilities will be docked pay, lose their health insurance and face additional penalties for engaging in unsanctioned picketing for a sixth consecutive day.
“COs continuing to take part in this illegal job action are violating the law,” state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision spokesperson Thomas Mailey said in an emailed statement.
Striking corrections workers picket outside of Collins Correctional Facility, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
Correction officers began striking last Monday outside Elmira Correctional Facility in Chemung County and Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County – the latter of which was the scene of an incident on Feb. 12, now under investigation, in which correction officers vacated three dorms. The strikes quickly spread to dozens more lockups; DOCCS placed the number on Saturday at 38.
“Today is the sixth day where correction officers (CO) have illegally walked off the job, risking the safety and security of our correctional facilities,” Mailey stated. “This action is undermining the safety of COs currently on the job, the incarcerated population, and the dozens of communities where prisons are located.”
Three long-time officers at Collins Correctional describe chronically low staffing levels, mandated 32-hour shifts and the power imbalance stemming from HALT – while bringing to light the responsibilities of a thankless profession.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union representing state correction officers, has repeatedly said it does not sanction the strike in any way. Under New York’s 1967 Taylor Law, which enables public employees to have arbitration, it is illegal for those employees to go on strike. Workers run the risk of fines and even jail time if they are found in violation of the law.
On Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered the New York National Guard to help secure the prisons where striking has been ongoing. That day, Buffalo-based State Supreme Court Justice Dennis E. Ward signed a temporary restraining order sought by DOCCS. It forbids officers from striking or picketing within 100 feet of correctional facilities. Attorney General Letitia James is representing DOCCS.
On Thursday, DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello offered a compromise to the striking officers that included amnesty for striking officers as long as they reported to work by midnight. Instead, only 10 to 20 officers crossed the picket line, according to NYSCOPBA.
While mediation between NYSCOPBA and DOCCS was expected to continue on Monday, DOCCS warned of penalties for strikers in the wake of the striking officers’ apparent rejection of Martuscello’s compromise.
“They will be considered absent without leave (AWOL) and are being docked pay for every day on strike,” the DOCCS spokesperson said. “Also, as a result of their status, the state will terminate their state-sponsored health insurance. In addition, those participating in the illegal job action will face administrative penalties along with department discipline for violating the state’s Taylor Law and a judge’s temporary restraining order.”
Striking officers have complained about unsafe working conditions. Martuscello testified at a recent state budget hearing that his agency was down nearly 2,200 officers and “critically understaffed.”
Martuscello had offered to rescind his previous order for a 30% reduction in staff and assignments for correction officers; allow officers who work throughout the strike crisis an overtime rate 2½ times the normal rate; and partially suspend the state’s 2021 Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement – or HALT – law, which limited the time that inmates can spend in confinement.
Officers have blasted the HALT law as making it harder on their jobs to secure prisons. Strikers detailed their demands, and particular issues with HALT, in a note that James’ office included as an exhibit in court papers.
“The HALT Act was implemented with the intention of making the conditions inside DOCCS facilities safer, however we inside these walls have experienced the opposite effect,” the note stated. “This has created a safety crisis, not only for security staff, but civilians and incarcerated individuals as well. There has been a shift in the population of incarcerated individuals. This population requires more supervision and assistance than ever before, given the extent of substance abuse and mental health needs. Security staff, civilians, and incarcerated individuals are being put into an unjust and dangerous situation.”
The note said without proper staffing, inmate programs and privileges cannot be safely run.
“Combine this with the lack of effective disciplinary sanctions, caused by the HALT Act, and you have created an extremely volatile scenario,” it stated.
DOCCS has closed visitation in all its facilities as of Thursday. That same day, a grand jury handed up a murder and manslaughter indictment against several correction officers in the fatal beating of 43-year-old Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County in December.
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Bill Sticht, who worked for more than 25 years at Collins Correctional Facility, told The Buffalo News on Wednesday why he stood in support of…
The commissioner of the state’s prison system said he would meet some of the demands of striking prison guards, including the ability to relax…
The governor of New York said the unsanctioned strikes at 33 jails and prisons in New York must stop immediately.
Striking corrections workers picket outside of Collins Correctional Facility, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
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