NYS Correctional Officers stage wildcat strike in defiance of unsafe conditions
The protest is the largest of its kind since 1979.
Shared with permission from the Justice Report.
Albany, New York – After years of tolerating ineffectual policies and unsafe working conditions, New York State Correctional Officers from multiple facilities have launched a daring wildcat strike to demand immediate change.
The protest—marked by frigid picket lines and the incandescent glow of roadside burn barrels—is the largest of its kind since 1979. It comes amid an unprecedented staffing crisis made worse by a “progressive” prison commissioner currently facing demands for his resignation.
On Monday, NYS Corrections Officers from multiple facilities, including Collins, Elmira, Groveland, Otisville, Clinton, Franklin, Lakeview, defiantly refused to clock in for their scheduled shifts. Instead, they picketed outside their respective facilities to protest a litany of grievances—including a stark rise in assaults on staff—that have become an unfortunate norm in the agency today.
By Tuesday, the strikes multiplied, with picket lines forming at places like Ulster, Eastern, Adirondack, and the infamous Attica.
Images and video from the protest’s formative hours show officers holding signs that read “Strike” and “Essential, not expendable!” Demonstrators’ list of demands includes increased pay, an end to mandatory triple shifts, and a total repeal of NY’s “disastrous” HALT Act, a left-wing prison reform initiative that neuters effective disciplinary measures for repeat violent offenders.
“When member’s backs are against the wall, and they feel like nobody is listening, they have to take some kind of action,” said NYSCOPBA Western Regional Vice President Kenny Gold in an interview with 7 News WKBW. “They know it’s against the Taylor law, and they know they can be fined and disciplined… Something’s gotta give.”
NYSCOPBA Western Regional Vice President Kenny Gold speaks on the latest wildcat strike. While the CO Union can acknowledge employee unrest, it cannot condone or support it, thanks to NY’s Taylor Law, which forbids public sector employees from striking under penalty of sanction or arrest. Video: 7 News WKBW.
In New York, strikes like these are considered illegal “job actions” thanks to the State’s Taylor Law, which prohibits public employees from striking under penalty of fines and, in very rare cases, criminal arrest. Despite this looming threat, hundreds of NYSDOCCS employees have already sounded the call to action, with more facilities expected to join the labor movement in the coming days.
A motivating factor behind the strike is prison conditions, which are now said to be so poor that officers now run the regular risk of becoming “exposed” to lethal doses of inmate drugs. This includes synthetic marijuana (K2) and fentanyl, which has exploded in popularity among criminal elements in recent years.
The toxic drugs are often smuggled into prisons as contraband via packages and inmate visiting rooms, and a trace amount could induce an overdose via physical contact.
Additionally, COs say they are fed up with a near-constant barrage of unannounced triple shifts and canceled days off, which stems from staffing shortages that have only intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Summer of Racial Reckoning.
This simmering unrest among employees would finally reach its breaking point last week after convicted criminals forcibly took control of Collins Corrections Facility. The medium-security lockup had been darkened by the sudden influx of more violent inmates thanks to a spate of prison closures, which forced their reclassification.
The violent ‘uprising’ at Collins lasted several days and injured at least three officers, with order only being restored after a force of armored CERT teams converged on the area on Thursday. In the end, a whopping 23 deadly weapons were confiscated, and no inmate casualties were reported.
The riot would be a sobering reminder of Albany’s perennial mismanagement of NYSDOCCS. Just two days before the “incident” at Collins, newly appointed Corrections Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III—widely reviled for being the nepotistic son of a former prison superintendent—announced that shortages were here to stay, adding, “70% of our original staffing model is the new 100%.”
Martuscello, a progressive who has been characterized as a man “born to run New York’s prisons,” has done little but add fuel to the fire since his appointment by NY Governor Kathy Hochul in May. His mishandling of the department has so far earned him a “vote of no confidence” from NYSCOPBA, the union representing Corrections Officers and Sergeants in NY.
One of Martuscello’s first acts as Commissioner was to publicly appear in Albany’s 2024 homosexual pride parade on June 9th, where he can be seen waving an intersectional LGBTQ+ flag, among others.
A far-left functionary of the regime in Albany, Martuscello once proudly appeared on an inmate-centered podcast to promote his progressive policies and talk prison reform with convicted Hispanic murderer, Michael Tineo, serving 20-to-life for a long list of violent crimes.
New York State Corrections Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III speaks with a grinning convicted murderer during a podcast sponsored by a neoliberal NGO. Video: Hudson Link Youtube.
However, many on the picket lines believe these soft-on-inmate policies—which Martuscello fully embraces—directly affect staffing prospects, inmate behavior, and, by extension, workplace safety, all of which lead to fewer recruits during each new Academy session.
In a statement responding to the strikes, Martuscello seemingly lashed out at prison workers, calling them “unlawful” and “rogue” for voicing their concerns. A leaked memo to all facility superintendents advised Prison bosses to implement an emergency game plan in anticipation of further action.
Groveland C.F., which is on the front lines of the strike, turned its inmate gym into a makeshift hotel so that scabs could have somewhere to rest between state-mandated double shifts. Some have even alleged that some officers are trapped inside certain facilities, forced to work against their will, fearing they will join the growing strikes.
“Start listening to us. Everything is pro-inmate,” said Gold. “They’re doing nothing about the drugs…They’re doing nothing about the mandatory overtime…Instead of fixing the problem, they come out with a memo that says they’re going to cut 30% of staff.”
Despite being a little over 24 hours old, the strikes have already garnered widespread support from the public on social media, especially from residents of towns where Prisons play a part in the local economy.
Not everyone is sympathetic, however. Online, a small portion of the leftist fringe has—ironically—castigated blue-collar workers for standing up for their rights. Others have maliciously used social media in an attempt to tie those on strike to the completely irrelevant death of an inmate at Marcy C.F. back in December.
NYS Correctional Officers braved the snow and frigid temperatures as they went on strike on Monday, the first job action of its kind since 1979. Officers say standing by the road is safer and more productive of their time than working a shift inside any one of NYSDOCCS’s many unsafe and mismanaged jails, demanding better pay and an end to triple shifts. Video: Ramona Bordeau, Facebook
The Justice Report contacted author, prison reform advocate, and former NYSDOCCS officer Jack McKraken in a request for comment. He says strikes of this magnitude were a long time coming while directly appealing to those who wear the blue.
“The ground has been fertile for a unified action against NYSDOCCS for a long time, but late is better than never,” he said via telephone. “It’s not surprising it’s come to this point. Those walking the picket line will undoubtedly face stiff resistance from all possible fronts. Don’t let it get to you. The concept of a wildcat strike against corrupt bosses and special interests is as American as apple pie, and you should be proud of yourselves,” he said.
“People have a right to go to work with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, the creatures in Albany don’t care about that. You’re an inconvenience to them—they want you dead, and they think it’s funny,” he continued.
In his book Livin’ the Dream, McKraken illustrated the need for wildcat strikes precisely like these, likening them to a weapon capable of severing the head of a corrupt hydra that turns good-hearted people—most of whom are White, Christian, and conservative—into disillusioned mercenaries for neoliberal interests.
“Stay consistent, refuse concessions, remember scabs, walk with moral confidence, and laugh off the detractors. There will be people mocking you for your heroism, but these people will not be attacking a system of oppression like they think they are; they’ll be engaging in one.”
Prison violence and crime have only skyrocketed across the nation in recent years, turning places of reform into charnel houses for those brave enough to work in them.
In October of 2023, a rookie Corrections Officer in Georgia was stabbed to death from behind with a “homemade weapon” as he escorted two Black inmates to the prison’s dining hall. The victim, identified as White 42-year-old Robert Clark, had only six months on the job at his time of death, which would ignite demands for a safer work environment.
In June of 2024, a “beloved” youth counselor working inside a prison for underage criminals was killed in what reports allege was a brutal assault on staff. The victim in that incident, identified as White 49-year-old Corey Proulx, died following an unhinged attack by Black 16-year-old Javaris Hurd in Irma, Wisconsin.
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