As a correctional officers’ strike stretches into its 17th day, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has deployed more than 3,000 National Guard soldiers to guard duty in 41 of the state’s 42 prison facilities with no firm end date in sight, a situation some close to the situation say is more perilous in some respects than a combat assignment.
“My husband has done a combat deployment, like he got shot at, and he never once on his combat deployment has he called me up and said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to get out of here,'” one wife of a National Guard soldier told Fox News Digital in an interview. “But within like, days, he was like, ‘I’ve got to get out of here.'”
A state Republican legislator whose district includes impacted prisons also shared his concerns with Fox News Digital, complaining that the Guardsmen were thrown into the situation without proper training and fearing that, if injured, they would be ineligible for federal VA benefits.
Hochul assigned National Guard troops to facilities after 15,000 correctional officers (COs) across nearly all of New York’s prisons walked off the job on Feb. 17, citing “unsafe” working conditions they blame on the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature in 2022, which they say have led to a surge in inmate-on-guard assaults.
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The HALT Act restricts solitary confinement and instead focuses on other rehabilitation methods. Protesters have also been mandated to work 24-hour shifts in some cases, they say, while dealing with violent inmates who are a constant threat of both violence and smuggling in weapons and contraband.
Now, National Guard soldiers who have been thrown into the mix are experiencing long hours without proper training to deal with the inmates – placing them in essentially similar conditions that COs have been protesting – according to a Republican lawmaker who has seven prisons in his district.
“So there’s one unit that’s a unit of military police, but none of them are trained COs, and a lot of them are very young,” state Republican Sen. Daniel Stec told Fox News Digital. “And again, they’re strong backs, and they’re young and alert, but they’re not trained to do this work, and it is intimidating for them.”
“They’re not in the Middle East doing that, but I’ve heard anecdotally, a lot of them saying, ‘the situation I was in, I felt less threatened when I was deployed overseas than in a prison in New York state,'” Stec recalled. “And they know that they’re walking among criminals, and a lot of them are very dangerous people, and they’re not trained for it.”
Stec added that the “orders that they’re on are indefinite,” and he said he is worried because they are “activated on state orders, which means that if they’re injured inside one of these facilities, they are not eligible for care from the VA.”
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the state’s National Guard said the soldiers have received “basic training in the task they’re required to conduct” but did not provide details.
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Meanwhile, Hochul has threatened legal action and terminations for the thousands of strikers who refuse to return to work. Since the strike was not sanctioned by the government-run COs’ union, the strikers are in violation of the state’s Taylor Law. The union has encouraged officers to return to work.
In response, hundreds of officers staged a rally in Albany on Tuesday, calling on strikers to “hold the line.” It is unclear how many officers have returned to work, but a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision told Fox News Digital that “Notices of termination and cancellation of insurance have begun to be issued to correction officers who have failed to return to work.”
One correctional officer who spoke with Fox News Digital said he was terminated and had his health insurance revoked and backdated to Feb. 17, the first day of the protest.
“I would love to be able to have all of this settled, and I can say wholeheartedly talking with all of my fellow employees, we’re all in the same boat,” the officer, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “We want this done and over with. We don’t want to be here. We don’t want to do this, but we have spoken out. We have filed grievances. There has been lawsuits all put forth on the state by our union, and the state has ignored all of it. They have ignored our cry for help over the last three years, and now it’s gotten to the point that individuals are being assaulted inside of the facilities, having feces and urine thrown at you on a regular basis is not something anybody should have to deal with.”
The former CO said strikers want HALT repealed, which can only be done through the legislature. However, Stec said he and his Republican colleagues believe Hochul has the power to suspend the law for a year using emergency powers to properly address the workers’ concerns.
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Last week, a tentative deal was reached between the New York State Correctional Officers, the government-affiliated corrections officers union, Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) and the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Hochul touted the mediated deal – which included some pay bumps and a temporary emergency suspension to portions of the HALT Act – as a success, but the “wildcat” strikers who were not at the negotiation table generally disapproved of the deal. Thousands continue to strike as a result and hope the legislature convenes to propose changes to the law.
In a letter alongside the agreement, mediator Martin F. Scheinman – who has donated thousands of dollars to state Democrats over the last decade, including to Hochul – proposed a binding “Consent Award” that would formalize agreements reached in mediation and be enforceable by court order.
“There are limitations legally to what would be accomplished in negotiations, not withstanding the wisdom/legitimacy of the demand,” Scheinman told Fox News Digital. He declined to comment on his history of political donations.
“They are in violation of the law. We have laws in our books that are supposed to protect us in these situations. Therefore, they are violating New York state law at this moment,” Hochul said Tuesday morning.
“They’ve created very unsafe circumstances. There are serious consequences. We have warned them day after day after day. A lot of warnings, that you could lose your healthcare, the healthcare is gone, people are going to be arrested, you could be going to jail. You’ve lost your job, you’ve lost your income, you’ve lost everything,” Hochul said.
Since the strike began, The New York Times reported that seven inmates have died. Additionally, the strike is costing the state more than $3.5 million a day according to an audit from Hochul’s budget office.
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