The deal reached late Thursday night between New York State and the correction officers union in the 12-day-old wildcat strike that has caused turmoil in the prisons hinges on whether the officers will accept it — which was unclear Friday morning.
The agreement requires the striking officers to return to work by Saturday to avoid discipline and including changes to try to minimize mandatory 24-hour shifts.
Elements of the HALT Act limiting solitary confinement would continue to be suspended under an emergency clause in the law.
Mediator Martin Scheinman said in a statement the relationship between state, union and rank-and-file are “strained. “No single issue, law, or policy entirely explains the current situation. It is obvious this erosion did not happen all at once,” he wrote.
A review would be conducted, the deal states, to determine whether “re-instituting the suspended elements of HALT would create an unreasonable” risk to safety and security, the agreement states.
“We have reached a consent award to address many of the concerns raised by correction officers, put DOCCS back on the path to safe operations, respect the rights of incarcerated individuals and prevent future unsanctioned work stoppages,” Gov. Hochul said late Thursday.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Correction officers continued their strike for a second week outside Coxsackie Correctional Facility on Thursday in Greene, New York. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The mediation took place over the past week as Hochul also obtained a court order directing strikers back to work and threatened to sanction striking officers in a number of ways, including disciplining them and withdrawing their state-funded health insurance coverage.
James Miller, a spokesman for the state Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said the union has encouraged each member to return to work.
“It will be up to each individual who currently is refusing to work to decide whether to return to work or risk termination, potential fines and possible arrest for violating the court order,” he said.
But since the strike was not sanctioned by the union, the deal doesn’t automatically end the strike as it might under usual circumstances.
On Wednesday, Michael Sussman, a lawyer who met with roughly 50 officers at Fishkill and Green Haven prisons, wrote to Scheinman that those officers “do not trust the union to represent them properly.”
“The workers with whom I met believe their actions are justified by the extreme conditions they face,” Sussman wrote. “They are motivated by survival and a desire to see their colleagues are protected. Applying punitive measures, like loss of health insurance, is, in their judgment, entirely counter-productive.”
Sussman’s letter touched on a series of complaints from the officers, including mandatory 24-hour tours, staffing shortages, and the 15-day limit on segregating inmates who commit misconduct is too short to deter further misconduct.
Jerome Wright, an advocate who was formerly incarcerated said with this deal, “The governor and New York State are sending a clear message that prison guards and administrators are above the law.”
