Agreement in place to end wildcat strike by state prison correction officers

New York State and the union representing New York State's correction 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.

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 correction officers, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The strike, brought on by forced overtime that sometimes resulted in 24-hour shifts and by an increase in assaults on correction 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 agreement states that penalties imposed on guards who participated in the strike will be waived unless the guards engaged in criminal activity distinct from strike participation. 

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 As weeks passed without a deal, 20 officers were fired and 5,200 guards were told their health insurance had been rescinded.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. 

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.