Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie backed down Thursday from her plan to order officers to work 12-hour tours, with the union crowing they forced her to cave on the proposal, the Daily News has learned.
The initiative sparked anger in the rank-and-file in the two weeks since The News first reported the plan on Feb. 21. On Feb. 24, a meeting at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers Island between staff, the union and management devolved into a shouting, chair-tossing match with at least one correction officer suspended for getting physical with one of the officials there, according to sources and records.
“Agency-wide transition to 12-hour workday is hereby rescinded,” Maginley-Liddie wrote in a teletype Thursday. It was “created in response to the long tours many of you work every day … That said your voices matter and I want to roll out a solution that is informed by your input. I am listening and I will continue to adjust this proposal based on your feedback.”
Benny Boscio, president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, sent out a statement claiming victory for the commissioner’s decision.
“As a result of COBA’s vigorous opposition and push back against the DOC’s proposed 12 hour tours, the Commissioner has now rescinded that order, effective immediately,” Boscio wrote.
“We have made it very clear from the beginning that the Department’s previous proposal was a rushed and ill-advised plan that was hastily thrown together and would have had a detrimental impact on our members.”
Maginley-Liddie was slated to testify Friday in a City Council budget hearing. The agency has proposed a roughly $200 million budget increase to $1.2 billion.