New York Governor Kathy Hochul has threatened to deploy the National Guard to prisons after a series of unauthorized strikes threw correctional facilities into chaos.
Newsweek has contacted Governor Hochul and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Hochul’s threat to deploy the National Guard underscores the growing tensions between the state and corrections officers, who are barred from striking under the Taylor Law.
What To Know
Hundreds of state correction officers picketed outside 25 facilities in a wildcat strike on Tuesday afternoon, according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Governor Hochul said she was considering forcing the officers back to work by invoking a state law that prohibits most public employees in New York from going on strike, and that she would prepare to deploy members of the New York National Guard to replace the striking officers if the walkout extended into Wednesday.
Thomas Grant, a community organizer at the Center for Community Alternatives, said in a statement: “This unsanctioned correction officer strike is an abuse of power that is throwing already unstable conditions into chaos.”
A corrections officer walks into Auburn Correctional Facility while several dozen coworkers strike across the street in Auburn, N.Y, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025 to protest unsafe working conditions.
Kevin Rivoli/The Citizen/AP
Under the state’s Taylor Law, public employees are prohibited from striking. Passed in 1967, the law grants municipal workers collective bargaining rights and other protections in exchange for the strike ban.
“I have directed my administration to meet with union leadership to resolve this situation and have also ordered the National Guard be mobilized to secure our correctional facilities in the event it is not resolved by (Wednesday),” Hochul said in a statement.
Governor Hochul also called the strikes “illegal and unlawful” on Tuesday. The New York State Correction Officers Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), a union representing prison officers, told local television station WIVB the strike action was “not in any way sanctioned” by the group.
The NYSCOPBA added that officers are striking “as a result of their discontentment with current working conditions.”
“They’ve had a lot of incidents recently and they don’t believe they’re being heard. It’s something that’s been ongoing for quite some time … they’re doing something they know is illegal to try to garner attention for what’s going on inside those walls and fences,” union representative Kenny Gold said.
NYSCOPBA says that its ranks are down about 2,000 officers from 2023 with a current total of 13,229 correction officers.
Earlier this month, the head of the New York prison system, Daniel Martuscello III, ordered superintendents to “redefine” how they operate with fewer officers, noting that “70 percent of our original staffing model is the new 100 percent.”
Days later, the NYSCOPBA issued a vote of no confidence against Martuscello, the Times Union reported.
Jennifer Scaife, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, said prison officers statewide have reported regularly working 16-hour shifts. She called these schedules “unsustainable” and a sign of a “crisis” in the prison system, according to The New York Times.
Striking prison guards are demanding mandated body scans for visitors, scans of incoming mail to inmates, a $5,000 bonus for new employees and no overtime mandates over 16 hours. They also wish to reverse the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) act.
The 2022 law strictly limits who can be placed in solitary confinement, for what reason and how long they can be kept there. The NYSCOPBA says such restrictions endanger officers as well as prisoners.
Scaife and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) say the officers’ demands are unrealistic. “The striking correction officers have made demands that would require changing laws and violating their own collective bargaining agreement,” the DOCCS said in a statement.
Scaife noted that the strikers were demanding things the governor could not provide unilaterally in a way that did not “serve the union’s interest either in the short or long term.”
The walkout comes as multiple state correction officers are expected to be criminally charged for their roles in the fatal beating of a handcuffed detainee on December 10, according to the Times Union.
Video footage of the assault, captured on several officers’ body cameras, showed 43-year-old Robert Brooks being punched, kicked and violently grabbed by officers as he was shackled and handcuffed.
Brooks died the next day and the Governor eventually ordered the firing of prison staffers. The death was ruled a homicide earlier in February. Brooks had been serving a 12-year sentence after pleading to first-degree assault in the stabbing of a former girlfriend.
One prisoner rights group has accused the strikers of trying to divert attention from the death of Brooks, The New York Times reported.
What People Are Saying
Governor Kathy Hochul said: “The illegal and unlawful actions being taken by a number of correction officers must end immediately. We will not allow these individuals to jeopardize the safety of their colleagues, incarcerated people and the residents of communities surrounding our correctional facilities.”
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said: “The illegal job actions involving correction officers is jeopardizing the safety and security of their coworkers. The number of illegal job actions impacting DOCCS correctional facilities has expanded to 25. Visitation has been canceled in a number of facilities and the Department is updating the list on its social media pages.”
Thomas Grant, a community organizer at the Center for Community Alternatives, said in a statement: “New York’s prisons are in crisis, but not due to needed reforms, like the HALT Solitary Confinement Act. Instead, the real crisis is one of state-sanctioned violence, systemic abuse, and outdated sentencing laws that pointlessly warehouse New Yorkers for decades. This unsanctioned correction officer strike is an abuse of power that is throwing already unstable conditions into chaos. In spite of [the union’s] claims, this strike will not make anyone safer. Instead, it fuels instability, escalates tensions, and increases harm for everyone inside.”
New York State Senator Mark Walczyk said in a press release: “It is no surprise that we find ourselves in this situation. Time and again, corrections officers have raised their voices for support and necessary reforms, yet their pleas have gone unanswered. Instead of prioritizing the safety of our COs across the state, Governor Hochul and her colleagues have enacted policies that hinder their ability to do their jobs effectively and safely. Our Corrections Officers face life-threatening conditions every day in an environment that has descended into chaos. The absence of meaningful reform has put them in harm’s way. It is high time we prioritize their safety and stop coddling criminals.”
What Happens Next
It is not clear when the strikes will end. Governor Hochul’s office met with representatives of NYSCOPBA and the DOCCS on Tuesday. During the talks, leaders of NYSCOPBA were urged to issue a strong statement calling for their members to stop striking and to return to work, the Times Union reported.
Visitations have been suspended at affected prisons amid the strikes. The walkouts have also meant some officers were prevented from leaving affected prisons overnight due to staffing shortages.
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