We feel for the corrections officers who say they’re struggling with impossible conditions in prisons across the state, but state law rightly prohibits walkouts by government employees and they must get back to work. There are 42 facilities where some 31,000 people convicted of crimes go to serve their time, and in 41 of them, at least some guards are engaged in an illegal wildcat strike, which supposedly law-and-order Republican politicians are supporting.
The staffers are steamed about rising inmate-on-guard violence; about shrinking workforces and closing facilities, which are understandable with far fewer inmates than there used to be; about a law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021 that limits stints in solitary confinement to 15 days while outright barring the use of solitary for particular groups; and about the murder charges against six officers in the death of a 43-year-old inmate in Oneida County.
Add it all up and officers feel like their employers — the state — doesn’t have their back. That’s a bad thing, just as it is when large numbers of city correction officers are under that impression.
But there are acceptable and unacceptable ways to protest. Just as it was wrong for city COs to engage in widespread sickouts, it’s wrong and illegal for public employees to strike. Public workers are doing essential tasks — making the very basic mechanics of our government work. That’s why New York’s Taylor Law, on the books since 1967, gives public employees the right to unionize and bargain collectively — but explicitly prohibits strikes, with stiff and escalating penalties for those who walk off the job. It’s a sacred tradeoff; with power to bargain comes the responsibility not to strike.
The Taylor Law helped bring an end to the 1968 and 1975 teachers’ strikes, and the 1980 and 2005 transit strikes. And there are countless strikes it stopped before they even started by encouraging productive bargaining that never yielded a faith-breaking standoff.
These wildcat prison strikes are not authorized by the union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, but they are every bit as illegal. So it was an easy call on Wednesday for a judge to order the officers back to work, and it’s understandable for Gov. Hochul to have activated the National Guard to distribute meals and medication and help maintain order in the facilities.
These strikes aren’t just against the law. They and the resulting lockdowns are resulting in canceled family visits to inmates and restricted access to parole hearings and religious services and more.
The union isn’t backing the strikes, but it’s right to be the adult in the room with the governor’s office now as they try to find their way to a solution. One of the infuriating things about a wildcat walkout is that there’s no single, clear representative with whom management can broker a deal. We’re optimistic that Hochul and state union leadership will get to a handshake before long.
But the illegal, debilitating job actions aren’t helping anyone. They should end immediately — and then the penalties on those who’ve broken faith with their solemn duty should swiftly follow. Putting taxpayers, inmates and their families in what amounts to a hostage situation simply can’t be tolerated.