In a day of rapid-fire developments governing the now four-day-long series of pickets being conducted statewide by corrections officers, one thing is clear - it is possible - the prison guards could be terminated if their stand-off continues.
While it is true that, on Feb. 20—or day four of the informational pickets at 33 correctional facilities statewide - the state has made some concessions, but to those out on the line, they are defiant, angry and to quote Tom Petty “they won’t back down.”
Just between mid-morning and early afternoon on Feb. 20, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said it would temporarily suspend certain parts of the controversial HALT Act that covers solitary confinement regulations except where circumstances “create a significant and unreasonable risk.”
The three-year-old HALT Act is one of the key centerpieces in a list of concerns being raised by correction officers.
Also proposed is rescinding the 70/30 employment mandate that said if prisons were 70 percent staffed, they were considered fully staffed.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said overtime pay will be boosted by 2.5 percent the regular rate for those officers who return to work during the ongoing picket and there will be no state-imposed discipline for any officer who returns to work by 11:59 p.m. February. 20.
Kevin Burke Jr., a Gross Shuman partner and prominent Buffalo labor attorney, thinks it is too early to see if any of those concessions will be enough to break the stalemate.
“Now my understanding is that NYSCOPBA is not officially sanctioning a strike or a work stoppage and that these are just individuals on an individual picket basis and informational picket basis, but the Union itself could face some discipline with per the Public Employee Relations Board, so it'll be interesting to see how this develops,” Burke said.
For now, those involved with the informational pickets are risking docked pay and even a possible prison term or job termination because they are violating direct orders from Hochul, the Department of Corrections, and a Feb. 19 injunction issued by State Supreme Court Justice Dennis Ward.
But, corrections officers say the risks are necessary to force the issue and have their concerns heard by state leaders.
Last year alone, according to the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association data, more than 2,000 guards were injured by attacks by inmates.
That is more than double since 2019.
At Wende Corrections Facility in Alden, where 453 corrections officers are employed - there have been eight deaths of active C-O’s because of mental health-related issues.
Wende, a maximum security prison in eastern Erie County, has 961 inmates.
The rise in assaults isn’t surprising, Burke says.
“If it's an individual employee and they're fearful for their individual safety, then obviously that that is going to lead to some different counseling from me. I'd be loath to tell an employee to go into a situation where he felt like he was in physical jeopardy, or she thought that she might be physically assaulted at work,” Burke said.
To help with the lack of officers because of the pickets, Hochul has deployed more than 4,500 National Guard troops to assist those guards who remain on duty.
That may only inflame the situation, Burke says.
“I'm not sure how much experience National Guardsmen have in a civilian prison. I don't even know if they have any experience in the military prison, it's not a great situation,” Burke said.
For now, the pickets remain, and frustrations continue to mount.