Agreement in place to end wildcat strike by New York State prison corrections officers

The union representing New York State’s corrections officers reached an agreement late Saturday to end a wildcat strike that started Feb. 17, during which seven prisoners died. 

“The parties have reached a mutual agreement that will return staff to work,” a state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. “No strike penalties have been waived in the agreement.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association, which represents all corrections officers, did not immediately respond to request for comment. 

The strike, brought on by forced overtime that sometimes resulted in 24-hour shifts and an increase in assaults on corrections officers, spokesmen told Newsday, had not been authorized by the New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association. 

The officers had blamed the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, known as the HALT Act, which limits the use of solitary or segregated confinement, as the reason for increased violence within prisons. Before the state Legislature passed the act in 2021, prisoners could spend up to 23 hours a day for days, months or years in solitary confinement.

The agreement will go into effect if 85% of the “prestrike fill level of employees” return to work by Monday at 6:45 a.m., according to a release. It calls for a 90-day suspension of some elements of the HALT Act and minimizing — and eventually eradicating — mandatory 24-hour overtime, among other issues.

The strike prompted Hochul to send about 7,000 National Guard troops to stabilize the state’s prisons. As weeks passed without a deal, 20 officers were fired and 5,200 guards were told their health insurance had been rescinded. 

The strike began with 12,500 of 15,000 workers at 38 of the state’s 42 prisons. 

Check back for updates on this developing story.