New York officials fired more than 2,000 prison guards on Monday for not returning to work after a weekslong strike.
Enough correctional officers had returned to work for the state to declare an end to the wildcat strike, a labor action that violated a state law prohibiting strikes by most public employees.
“After 22 days of an illegal strike, the governor and I are happy to report it is now ended,” Corrections Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said during a virtual press briefing.
The state and the guards’ union, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, reached a new deal to end the strike over the weekend, but it was contingent on at least 85% of staff returning to work by Monday morning. While the 85% goal was not met, Martuscello said the state would honor some of the agreement’s provisions, including on overtime work.
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Martuscello said the National Guard would remain in place at prisons to support staff while the department pursues an aggressive recruiting campaign to bring in additional employees. Gov. Kathy Hochul had deployed the National Guard to some prisons to fill in for striking workers.
About 10,000 security staff are available to work in prisons across the state, down from about 13,500 before the wildcat strike, the commissioner said.
“Termination letters have been sent to over 2,000 officers who remained on strike. Officers and sergeants who did not have preapproved medical leave and didn’t return by this morning, 6:45 a.m. deadline, have been terminated effective immediately,” Martuscello said.
Guards frustrated over working conditions began walking off the job on Feb. 17 at many state prisons. Inmates have complained about deteriorating conditions behind bars since the walkout.
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A special prosecutor is also probing the March 1 death of an inmate, 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi, at Mid-State Correctional Facility. Other inmates said Nantwi was brutally beaten by correctional officers, and 15 staffers have been placed on administrative leave after the inmate’s death.
According to a court filing by the state attorney general’s office, there is “probable cause to believe” that as many as nine correctional officers either caused or could be implicated in Nantwi’s death.
Mid-State is across the street from the Marcy Correctional Facility, where six guards have been charged with murder in the December beating death of Robert Brooks.
Another inmate, 61-year-old Jonathon Grant, was pronounced dead last month after he was found unresponsive in his cell at the Auburn Correctional Facility amid the ongoing labor strike, although it is unclear if prison staffing played a role in his death.
The strike was not sanctioned by the officers’ union.
Two previous deals that sought to end the strike failed to bring back enough guards to declare an end to the labor action.
As was included in the previous agreements, the deal reached over the weekend addresses a key complaint of the guards by issuing a 90-day suspension of a provision of a state law that limits the use of solitary confinement. During the pause, the state will evaluate if reinstating the law would create an unreasonable risk to staff and inmate safety.
Guards will also work 12-hour shifts and the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will not discipline officers who participated in the strike if they returned by the Monday deadline.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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