ALBANY, N.Y. — New York State says it’s working to recruit corrections officers after it fired 2,000 guards to end the unsanctioned strike at multiple prisons as they entered their third week.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office released a statement on Tuesday about the aftermath of the strikes. She says 6,000 National Guard members remain in prisons for now to support the over 10,000 corrections officers who decided to return to work.
The governor also announced that the corrections officers who were fired are banned from being rehired in other state service jobs. She is also recommending removing them from the Central Registry of Police and Peace Officers, which would bar them from being hired as a police officer in state and local jurisdictions.
The strike ended on Monday afternoon, two days after the union representing the corrections officers and the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision reached their fourth and final agreement on working conditions. The union didn’t authorize the strikes so it was up to individual staff members to decide whether to accept the deal and return to work.
As part of the deal, the state must work to hire more officers to work toward ending 24-hour mandatory shifts. The state provided this list of how it’s aiming to hire more staff:
Introduce a policy to this year’s New York State Budget to allow recruiting corrections officers from other states. Working to launch a large-scale social media recruitment campaign. The campaign went live in February targeting upstate NY community college campuses and military bases. Continue recruitment events at colleges, high schools, and career fairs. DOCCS will also continue to operate its recruitment centers at Destiny USA Mall in Syracuse and Champlain Centre Mall in Plattsburgh.The state said it would honor the deal if 85% of guards who remained on strike returned to work. Although the number of returning guards didn’t reach that percentage, the state says it’s still honoring the deal. Here’s what’s in the deal:
The HALT Act will be suspended for 90 days and the DOCCS commissioner can exercise discretion on the act. The state will minimize and work to eliminate 24-hour mandatory overtime. The state will establish a committee to analyze each facility’s staffing and operational inefficiencies, aiming to provide more relief to existing staff. The state will continue to pay 2.5 times the overtime rate. A committee made of members of the union, DOCCS, and other parties will present recommendations to the New York State Legislature regarding changes to the HALT Act.In addition, DOCCS has agreed not to discipline any corrections officers who returned to work before their regularly scheduled shifts on Monday. They also agreed to restore health insurance to any returning employee who lost it.
Aftermath of strikes: Over 6,000 National Guard members remain; State focuses on recruiting WHEC.com.
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