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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has deployed National Guard troops to secure state-run prisons amid a wildcat strike by corrections workers.
Picketing and striking by corrections officers took place at around 30 state prisons as of Wednesday morning, union officials said.
Hochul says National Guard troops are being deployed Wednesday, but she did not immediately specify where.
“They’ve already been deployed and are ready to stabilize the situation,” Hochul said of the National Guard soldiers, in a video address released Wednesday. “I am directing everyone involved in these unlawful strikes to stop these actions immediately. Legal action has already commenced to ensure compliance.”
National Guard soldiers in Humvees entered the grounds of Attica Correctional Facility, Spectrum News reported.
The extent of the governor’s legal action wasn’t specified, but Hochul on Tuesday cited a state law that can lead to fines and other punishments for state workers who strike illegally.
A spokesperson for Hochul did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the deployments, the roles the soldiers would perform, or the extent of the strikes.
The state prison guards union has conceded that the strike is illegal and says they did not authorize it. Union representatives met with the governor’s team for the second straight day.
“Negotiations with the State have continued throughout today between NYSCOPBA and the Governor’s Office towards a resolution,” New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association spokesperson James Miller said Wednesday in a statement.
Union officials have said that corrections officers are protesting for better pay, heightened searches of prison visitors, and a reversal of recent prison reforms that limit solitary confinement.
The strike also follows the killing of inmate David Brooks. Video shows him being beaten by corrections officers while he was handcuffed at the Marcy Correctional Facility. The governor eventually ordered the firing of prison staffers involved in the death, which was ruled a homicide in early February.
A special prosecutor is expected to announce an update in the criminal case in Brooks’ death Thursday.
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