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Albany, New York — More than a week into their wildcat strike, New York State Corrections Officers (COs) remain undeterred by court orders, health insurance suspensions, and 2-to-1 pay deductions.
While strikes continue outside at least 41 of New York State's 42 prisons, mediation talks are underway between New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) leadership and state representatives.
NYSCOPBA leadership has explicitly stated that they do not condone, nor did they orchestrate the wildcat strike, which began on February 17. However, they are still negotiating on behalf of the striking correction officers.
The NYSCOPBA called for Martin Scheinman—who is Jewish—to mediate. Scheinman is a major donor to both the NYS Democrats and Republicans.
While racial statistics on NYS COs is limited, various career-based data trackers estimate the occupation to be around two-thirds White nationwide.
A 2016 article written by the New York Times indicated that the previous year, 96% of COs at Attica Prison—a NYS facility currently on strike—were White.
On February 19, WKBW reported that the NYS Governor Kathy Hochul (D) ordered both the Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS) and the Office of Employee Relations (OER) to retain Scheinman as a mediator.
When WKBW spoke with Scheinman two days later, he disputed the order of events, insisting that the union, and not state officials were the first to call him. Scheinman also dismissed claims from striking corrections officers questioning his neutrality on the issue.
NYSCOPBA released a statement on February 25 summarizing the first day of negotiations.
The union described both parties laying out their positions on eliminating some or all solitary confinement restrictions within the HALT Act, ending triple shifts, modifying mail scanning restrictions, and increasing staffing levels.
Also discussed was the elimination of any fines, legal, or disciplinary actions against striking COs.
The previous offer of amnesty for any COs returning to duty expired on February 20 at midnight.
Notably, one key demand was not mentioned: the resignation of DOCCS commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III, a staunch neoliberal negotiator representing New York State.
Though NYSCOPBA, NYS officials and Mediator Scheinman seem eager to work together, some observers remain skeptical about the integrity of the process. This includes former NYS CO and author Jack McKracken:
"NYSCOPBA is one of the main reasons COs and NY State Prisons as a whole, are in this mess. They should be viewed with the same scrutiny as management... "
Governor Hochul, addressing reporters on February 25, claimed she was unsure of the strikers' demands since the previous labor agreement was "generous."
"... When they're not represented by a union and I'm negotiating with the Union, I'm asking the Union what do they want? It can't be pay and benefits because you literally just negotiated a very generous package less than a year ago..."
Hochul also reemphasized the state’s temporary suspension of the HALT Act, a move that would seemingly be reversed once the strike concludes.
When asked if a new amnesty provision would be extended towards the strikers, Hochul immediately gave a resounding "no." Hochul indicated that approximately 380 strikers have been issued restraining orders, which could be enforced through arrests.
Jack McKracken had previously suggested Hochul may resort to mass arrests to break the strike. Speaking to the Justice Report, he warned that "In today's political climate, it would not be out of the realm of possibility for Kathy Hochul to use her hard power resources to break the strike through mass arrests and paramilitary terrorism." McKracken said. "She cannot risk clout in her neoliberal circle by bowing to the demands of a predominately White, Conservative, Christian labor movement."
Hochul also reiterated that a majority of NYS’s 30,000-plus inmates were suddenly left unguarded last week, forcing the state to deploy the National Guard to fill a workforce gap of around 15,000 officers. The national guard was deployed on February 19, two days into the strike.
Mediation is planned to continue through February 27, with additional days prescribed as needed.
According to the DOCCS, the number of corrections officers has shrunken several percentage points every year from 2002 until 2022, when an incremental gain of 1.8% was achieved. This was followed by a slightly more respectable increase of 4.6% the year after. During the 'Racial Reckoning' of 2020, NYS prisons lost over 22% of its corrections staff.
Four days before the strike began, NYSCOPBA President Chris told the NYS Senate that 2024 ended with fewer than 13,000 corrections officers in the state's employ, over 14% lower than 2023 figures.
Complicating an already delicate matter, is the recent vandalism of busses used to transport inmates. Two busses, owned by a third-party vendor for DOCCS, were vandalized. One was set on fire and the other had the message "can you hear us now" spray painted on the side.
Author Jack McKracken was "hesitant" to tie the incident to strikers without evidence beyond overlapping timelines. He also pointed out that the prison system has many violent enemies.
"The vague messaging [spray painted] on a NYSDOCCS transport bus could have easily been put up in the name of militant anti-racism or some other anti-authoritarian motive," McKraken said.
Major leftist organizations have published articles claiming that the strikes are a cover for the alleged beating death of a 43-year-old Black inmate named Robert Brooks by COs last December.
Bodycam footage of the incident shows multiple COs beating, choking, and body-slamming a shackled Brooks for several minutes. Brooks later died from his injuries.
While the World Socialist Website claims that the "immediate trigger" for the strike was the impending indictment of some officers, the first prisons to walk out were Collins and Elmira—not Marcy Correctional Facility, where Brooks died.
Just a week before the strike, the Collins Correctional Facility had suppressed a three-day-long inmate uprising. The violent revolt left at least three officers injured, with order only restored after armored corrections teams were deployed to the facility on Thursday.
In the aftermath, authorities confiscated 23 deadly weapons, though no inmate casualties were reported.
The striking corrections officers have found a somewhat unlikely, yet sympathetic ally in a handful of NYS Republicans.
Seemingly unaware of their party's rocky relationship with organized labor, some of have even made media appearances and speeches at the strikes.
As with the mediation process, former CO Jack McKracken urged strikers to be cautious with any and all politicians presenting as a friend:
"... Any power plays they [NYSCOPBA] make with local politicians are suspect until they start making real demands of the state."
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