New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she will deploy the state National Guard to correctional facilities on Wednesday if corrections officers continue an unauthorized strike.
At least 25 correctional facilities across the state have seen corrections officers walk off the job citing unsafe working conditions. Hochul calls the move illegal and unlawful as she makes plans to send the National Guard to corrections facilities if the work stoppage does not end.
State Assemblyman Billy Jones, a Democrat from the 115th district, is a former corrections officer. He says the Corrections Department must address incidents in which corrections officers are exposed to hazardous materials and violence, which he says “continue to occur without being addressed leaving horrible working conditions.”
Standing outside the Clinton Correctional facility in Dannemora, retired Lieutenant Darryl Menard told WCAX that work conditions are unsafe and Albany is not listening to correction’s officers concerns.
“Every day they’re having issues. They had the highest number of assaults on staff currently that they’ve ever had and it gets worse every day and the guys have had enough and they’re standing up for themselves. And it’s something that’s been coming for a while," Menard said.
Senator Dan Stec, a Republican from the 45th district, is calling for the resignation of DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello, saying he is “incapable of responding to ... very real safety concerns and has lost the trust of our correction officers.”