NYS prison strike deal: Will corrections officers return?
Leaked surveillance video allegedly shows a glimpse of the violence that prison workers say is happening daily inside prisons statewide, which caused them to strike.
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Striking New York state correction officers are now facing termination and possible criminal charges after nearly two weeks of protests. A deal has been reached to get the state employees back on duty, but it seems not everyone will return despite the consequences.
“The jail has become a block party. There are no repercussions,” says one correction officer who did not want to provide his name.
The officer spoke to News 12 outside of Fishkill Correctional Facility in Dutchess County on Friday, where a small group of state workers and their supporters remained protesting with signs in a small, muddy section of a parking lot across from the entrance. Just days ago, it was a much livelier scene, when dozens of protesters were there, and some were chanting with loudspeakers.
The group says many of their colleagues will not return to work until the solitary confinement reform act at the center of their complaints, HALT, and the alternative rehabilitation units it creates are permanently repealed.
“The jail has become a block party,” says the officer. “There are no repercussions. When you were a child, and you did something you weren’t supposed to, you got reprimanded. Here - you do something you’re not supposed to, it’s cookies and treats.”
State correction officers say leaked video of prison attacks inside state facilities is what’s going on behind bars each day.
The negotiated deal with the correction officer’s union, NYSCOPBA, and the state suspends HALT among other longstanding issues. Striking correction officers say suspending the act isn’t a permanent solution.
“Certain individuals are meeting with lawyers to address their concerns. This is not either work or don’t work. It’s going to be a lot more than that,” says Dale Larsen.
High-profile Goshen civil rights attorney Michael Sussman wrote a letter to the state mediator on behalf of several correction officers who say their union isn’t properly representing them.
Reform activists, meantime, are calling on the governor to immediately reinstate HALT, rather than suspend it, and are calling on lawmakers to additionally pass sentencing reforms.
“This agreement rewards an illegal work stoppage that was a direct attempt to evade accountability for systemic abuse,” says Thomas Gant, community organizer at Center for Community Alternatives. “{It} includes a framework for illegal suspensions of the HALT solitary confinement act. Denying people access to these basic rights makes prisons less safe and harms the long-term success of those returning home.”
It’s not clear how many striking correction officers are expected to return to duty. According to the deal reached for their return, members of the New York National Guard will remain inside prisons statewide to assist with an ongoing, staffing shortage.
