DOCCS will rehire some of the 2,000 corrections officers fired after wildcat strike
May 9—Despite Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul's pledge not to rehire any of the 2,000 corrections officers her administration fired in March at the end of a 22-day wildcat strike, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is moving to do just that for a limited number of officers.
A spokesperson for DOCCS confirmed that negotiations are ongoing through the grievance process outlined in the collective bargaining agreement the department has with the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union representing corrections officers and sergeants.
"Employees that were terminated have subsequently filed grievances under the collective bargaining agreement," the spokesperson said. "As a result of these grievances, the department has begun holding individual meetings as required under the contract, some of which have resulted in settlement agreements for a limited number of former employees to return to work."
The DOCCS spokesperson said the department is handling about 600 grievance hearings related to terminations, noting that a hearing doesn't mean the CO will receive an invitation to return to work, and not all COs offered a chance to return will take it.
That's a departure from the governor's position from March, immediately after the strike ended. After weeks of negotiations and back-and-forth, Hochul's administration offered an ultimatum to the thousands of COs still on strike in the second week of March.
They offered a "memorandum of understanding," a binding agreement between DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III and the security staff that the department would make significant changes, reduce reliance on officer overtime, improve security measures for visitors and legal mail, spin up a committee to recommend changes to state laws on solitary confinement use and rehabilitative programming and pursue increases in pay for security staff. Any officers who did not return to work by 6:45 a.m. March 10 were fired.
As a result, about 2,000 COs and sergeants were fired that day, and Hochul signed an emergency order barring them from being rehired by any other government entity in New York, state or local. The COs were also stripped of their peace officer registrations and removed from the state database that tracks law enforcement officers. To restore those registrations, the COs would have to restart the academy and training programs, including any special certificates they pursued in their original training.
The local hiring restrictions fell away in early April, after Hochul took criticism for the move and legal questions were raised over her authority to direct local hiring decisions.
But when asked about her position during a press conference on March 18, Hochul was definitive. She said she felt those officers had risked the safety of their communities, their civilian staff colleagues in the prisons and the incarcerated people themselves, and had neglected their duties.
"That is what we had to deal with for 22 days, and to say that we're going to forget, I will never forget that," she said. "They're not ever working for the state of New York."
But it appears that position has changed — in part because at least some of those COs fired on March 10 were out on pre-approved leave unrelated to the strike. Late Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for Hochul said she remains committed to her original position.
"Governor Hochul has been clear that there must be strict consequences for individuals who repeatedly broke the law and refused to end the illegal strike," the spokesperson said. "This administration follows the law and will do so when grievances are filed, but the Governor's commitment to reforming our correctional system is steadfast."
A spokesperson for NYSCOPBA confirmed that the union is assisting its members in the grievance process, but said each negotiation is individual and conditions for rehiring are being set on a case-by-case basis.
The NYSCOPBA spokesperson, James Miller, said that there are a number of cases where the terminated COs were out on medical leave, family-related leave or for work-related injuries and were not involved in the strike, and those employees have asked to be reinstated.
"The settlements being offered by DOCCS today are for COs that were fired only and are being picked by DOCCS on a case by case basis," Miller said. "Currently, we have 3,200 grievances filed by NYSCOPBA on behalf of members who were fired that were on family leave, vacation, job related injury, etcetera. It also includes members who went back to work, but were considered AWOL and lost health insurance, and lastly the officers who were on the unsanctioned strike and were terminated."
Miller said that the officers being offered settlements will make their own choices on whether to accept the deals or not.
In the meantime, conditions inside the state prisons remain poor.
Since February, the state has been relying on thousands of National Guard troops to shore up staffing headcounts at the prisons, and the COs who are back to work have been asked to work regular 12-hour shifts in exchange for boosted overtime pay. COs inside the prisons say things are far from normal, and both staff and incarcerated people are on edge after months in this emergency with no clear solution.
The state is working to boost CO headcounts, moving in the state budget this year to lower the CO hiring age from 21 to 18, allow out-of-state applicants for security staff jobs, and also set aside $500 million to continue paying the National Guard for deployment to the prisons.
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