New York prison guards were ordered to immediately stop striking by a state judge Wednesday – after Gov. Kathy Hochul sued to halt the illegal work stoppages.
State Supreme Court Justice Donna M. Siwek ruled the wildcat strikes by correction officers — which erupted Monday and have since stretched to 30 state prisons — are in violation of the Public Employee’s Fair Employment Act, also known as the Taylor Law, according to court documents filed in Erie County.
The Democratic governor filed a lawsuit against the rogue strikers, who are prohibited from demonstrating under New York law, with the injunction requiring them to return to work.
Hochul on Wednesday signed an executive order deploying more than 3,500 National Guard members to an unspecified number of prisons to protect inmates and staff where correction workers continue to unlawfully protest working conditions inside the correctional facilities.
“These disruptive and unsanctioned work stoppages by some correction officers must end as they are jeopardizing the safety of their colleagues, the prison population, and causing undue fear for the residents in the surrounding communities,” Hochul said in a statement.
“While I am confident we will resolve this illegal strike, I am grateful for the thousands of correction officers and staff that are continuing to report for duty – I thank them for their continued service and for doing the right thing.”
The governor added that she appointed mediator Martin Scheinman to return striking correction officers back to work.
Staff and other on-the-job guards were also granted additional overtime under the executive order.
It remains unclear the role guardsmen will play inside the prisons as soldiers in Humvees were captured arriving at Attica Correctional Facility Wednesday morning, Spectrum News reported.
Sources familiar with the National Guards’ orders say they may be stationed in housing units, watch towers and at entrances to facilities.
Inmates would stay in their cells when being monitored by the guardsmen, with both groups’ only interactions being limited to providing meals, the source said.
Correction officers at a pair of upstate prisons in Elmira and Collins refused to enter for their scheduled shifts Monday morning, following a violent uprising by inmates at one of the facilities a week earlier.
By Wednesday, state prison guards at approximately 30 correctional facilities had walked off the job, according to the NYS Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.
The prison workers’ union said it did not sanction the illegal job actions, but remained committed to working with Hochul’s office towards a resolution as negotiations entered its second day.
“The leadership of NYSCOPBA met with DOCCS officials and representatives of the Governor’s Office yesterday morning to discuss the well documented concerns of the members that has led to the current situation,” a NYSCOPBA spokesperson said.
“Negotiations with the State have continued throughout today between NYSCOPBA and the Governor’s Office towards a resolution.”
The current contract with the union’s 17,000 members, negotiated with Hochul’s administration last year, runs through March 31, 2026.
The workers’ protests triggered officials to cancel all visitation at Elmira, Attica, Auburn, Five Points, Upstate, Clinton, Wende, Green Haven, Cocsackie and Eastern NY correction facilities until further notice, according to the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
