By Robert Harding
The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y.
ALBANY, N.Y. — The union representing New York correction officers requested a meeting with the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, but DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said it is “not the path forward” one month after the correction officer strike ended.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association asked to meet with DOCCS to “address a range of serious issues affecting the safety, well-being and working conditions of correctional officers.” The concerns include staffing shortages and workplace conditions — the same issues that sparked the three-week strike.
NYSCOPBA also criticized Martuscello’s plan to grant early release to inmates amid a severe staffing shortage. To be eligible, inmates must be within 15 to 110 days of their release date. Incarcerated individuals who are serving sentences for violent felonies, such as murder, or sex crimes will not be eligible for early release.
Martuscello contends the early release plan will help alleviate the ongoing staffing crisis, which worsened after the state fired 2,000 correction officers to end the walkout on March 10. According to DOCCS, the number of correction officers has fallen from 18,541 in 2020 to approximately 10,000 after the strike.
NYSCOPBA says it is advocating for the fired correction officers to be reinstated. The union’s leadership accused Martuscello of denying their meeting request and instructing prison superintendents to work with local union representatives.
“We are deeply disappointed by the department’s refusal to engage in a productive conversation about these critical issues,” said Chris Summers, NYSCOPBA’s president. “Our members’ safety and the safety of the communities they serve should be a priority. The ongoing refusal to address these concerns only exacerbates the already dangerous conditions that exist in many of our facilities.”
When the strike ended, Martuscello committed to implementing several policy changes. The plan included temporarily suspending the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, known as HALT, and scheduling officers for 12-hour shifts to address concerns about mandated overtime.
According to Martuscello, Summers requested a meeting on March 27 to discuss the 12-hour shifts, among other issues. But Summers was told “the request was premature,” Martuscello said, “and that we were following the 12-hour shifts as outlined in the (memorandum of agreement), including providing two (days off).”
Martuscello highlighted other changes, including the first committee meeting to review HALT, the hiring of an independent analyst to review staffing plans and the deployment of legal mail scanners. DOCCS has also updated its visitation policy, which now requires visitors to submit to a body scan for a full-contact visit.
DOCCS announced this week that it is extending the double time and a half overtime pay for another month. It was initially implemented for 30 days after the officers returned to work.
Martuscello criticized NYSCOPBA’s leadership for not acknowledging the “significant actions that have been put in motion already since the end of the illegal job action, all of which are focused on the safety of the workforce.”
He continued, “Not only do they fail to recognize the progress being made, but they miss the fact that real change takes time and effort and is in no way advanced by angry press statements during a crisis.”
But Summers says the state’s refusal to meet with NYSCOPBA shows a disregard for the safety of correction officers. He urged DOCCS to “engage with us in good faith.”
“We will not back down until real changes are made for the men and women who serve this state with unwavering dedication,” Summers said. “Without effective changes, both public safety and the well-being of correctional officers will continue to be at risk.”
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