State announces deal with prison guards hoping to end strike Friday

ALBANY — State officials said Thursday they have tentatively agreed to a deal to end a wildcat strike of prison guards after 18 days that left seven prisoners dead and required the deployment of National Guard troops to secure facilities.

The state agreed to a memorandum of understanding with representatives of the striking workers that would apply to all strikers who return to work Friday. The deal would rescind administrative and civil sanctions and terminations if the strikers return, said Corrections Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III and Jackie Bray, the state commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

Roughly 8,000 correction officers and sergeants in a force of 15,000 continued the illegal strike this week. The strike that wasn’t authorized by the union violated the 1967 Taylor Law that prohibits strikes by most state workers as a way to preserve public safety.

Seven prisoners have died since the strike began Feb. 17, although the causes of death have not yet been determined. About 7,000 National Guard troops deployed to secure the prisons since the strike began will remain until the system is back to normal, state officials said.

“I want to end this illegal strike and deliver the things they had asked for,” Martuscello told reporters Thursday night on a Zoom call. . “This agreement will not be offered again.”

Any worker who doesn’t return to work Friday will not be able to benefit from the deal and will face the possibility of additional civil and criminal action, Martuscello said.

“We will continue to pursue termination for those who do not return tomorrow,” Bray said Thursday. “You need to come back tomorrow.”

The agreement includes improved working conditions to enhance safety, as well as suspension of penalties and terminations the state meted out over the last two weeks in failed attempts to end the strike, officials said. The deal also suspends elements of the state HALT Act that restricts use of solitary confinement as punishment. Strikers through spokesmen blamed the act for a rise in assaults on correction officers and forced overtime work that could result in 24-hour shifts.

The agreement includes a plan to hire a private firm to keep contraband out of the prison, to return to eight-hour shifts once the prisons are back to normal and to explore installing metal detectors such as those used in airports.

There was no immediate statement issued by the strikers.

The New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association that represents all correction officers refused to sign the agreement that Martuscello negotiated directly with strikers.

“NYSCOPBA was not appropriately engaged in the development of the currently circulating agreement,” the union said in a written comment.  “This agreement was not negotiated with NYSCOPBA — the legally recognized entity through which all negotiations must be conducted. There are substantial legal issues that must be addressed, and as presented, this agreement does not represent the best interests of our membership.”

As of Wednesday, the strike continued at 32 prisons by 7,500 correction officers, according to Thomas Mailey, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. That’s down from 12,500 of 15,000 workers who began the strike at 38 of 42 prisons on Feb. 17. Since then, more than 20 correction officers have been fired and 5,200 guards were notified their health insurance would be terminated.