A new agreement has been reached to end wildcat strikes by thousands of New York State correctional officers, which have created chaos throughout the prison system.
Under the agreement, negotiated by state officials and the correctional officers’ union, the officers are expected to return to work Monday.
The officers, who maintained that staffing shortages, forced overtime and dangerous working conditions prompted the illegal strikes, had received an ultimatum this week from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision: go back to their posts or face discipline, termination or, possibly, criminal charges, according to a memorandum issued by the agency.
The union agreed on Saturday to the terms outlined in the memorandum, the corrections department said in a statement. Those terms will take effect when 85 percent of staff return to work. Any disputes over the agreement will be resolved by an arbitrator.
It was unclear on Sunday how the union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, would enforce the return-to-work provision since it did not authorize the strikes. The department and the union struck a similar deal last month that would have ended the strikes by March 1. Most officers ignored that agreement.
In the new memorandum, the state agreed to a 90-day pause on some provisions in the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, known as HALT, which limits the use of solitary confinement for prisoners.
Officers on strike have said that, without solitary confinement, they cannot properly separate violent individuals from staff members and other incarcerated people. The corrections department will re-evaluate the provisions next month and determine whether they should be reinstituted. If staffing vacancies reach 30 percent at a given prison, the department may close parts of the facility to prevent officers from being stretched too thin, the memorandum said.
The agency reserved the right to punish the officers who went on strike, the statement said.
The union could not be reached on Sunday for comment on the agreement.
The turmoil began on Feb. 17, when officers at two state prisons declared unauthorized strikes. Two days later, a judge ordered an end to the work stoppage.
Instead, more strikes ensued. Officers at nearly all the 42 state prisons joined the work action, and Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed about 7,000 National Guard troops to staff the facilities.
During the labor unrest, Messiah Nantwi, a 22-year-old prisoner, died on March 1 at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, N.Y. Two days later, 15 corrections department employees were put on leave in connection with his death.
Nine prisoners interviewed by The New York Times said Mr. Nantwi died after he was beaten by prison guards. Gov. Kathy Hochul said that while the death was still under investigation, “early reports point to extremely disturbing conduct leading to Mr. Nantwi’s death.”
At least eight other prisoners have died since the strikes began. They include two men at Auburn Correctional Facility in central New York who did not immediately receive medical treatment, according to prisoners, and a man who hanged himself inside his cell at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley. Some inmates have gone without showers and hot food throughout the strikes, while others have missed their court dates.
Dozens of officers and sergeants who have participated in the strikes have been fired, Jackie Bray, the commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said at a news conference last week.
