4/23/2025 UPDATE: 30 New York State Corrections Wildcat Strikes are underway to protest the systematic failures to provide safe working conditions at facilities across the state.

DOCCS and the NYS have focused on threatening legal action against officers who STAND UP for change. They are threatening the removal of health insurance coverage and other retaliation for officers that speak out. The men and women on the strike line and within the facilities do not deserve to be treated like the enemy. Their families do not deserve to lose access to health care for daring to speak out. The increased violence and unreasonable working conditions are the results of SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS. The only way to fix those problems is with SYSTEMIC REFORMS. 

HOPE FOR CHANGE:

• YOU give me hope. All of you that have signed and shared this petition. 
• There has been an outpouring of support for officers from the communities surrounding the prisons. This gives US hope. Food, firewood, and words of encouragement are shared by private citizens and local business owners. 
• The strikes have REFOCUSED ATTENTION on the problems within our NY prison system. NYS Senators and Assemblymen from both sides the aisle are supporting the reform of the HALT Act and the overall work environment of security staff. Statements of support have been posted online from: 
  • • Senator Michelle Hinchey 
    • Senator Tom O'Mara
    • Senator Jim Tedisco
    • Senator Mark Walczyk 
    • Senator Pete Harckham 
    • Senator Rachel May 
    • Senator James Skoufis
    • Senator  Jake Ashby
    • Rep. Matthew Simpson
    • Rep. Jake Ashly
    • Rep. James Tedisco 
    • Rep. Mark Walczyk 
    • Rep. Joseph C DeStefano
    • Rep. Michael Durso
    • Rep. John Mikulin 
    • Rep. Matthew Slater
    • Rep. Chris Tague
    • Rep. Scott Gray 
    • Rep. Ken Blakenbush 
    • Rev. Robert Smullen 
    • Rep. Joseph Angelino 
    • Rep. Brian Miller
    • Rep. Brian Manktelow 

Initial Petition Post: 2/18/2025 TWENTY-SEVEN New York State Correctional facilities are striking for better working conditions as of 2/18/2025. We the families, friends, and neighbors of these officers support their right to protest their unsafe working conditions. 

As a spouse of a NY State Corrections Officer, I've witnessed the harsh reality of the COs working conditions. Mandated overtime has become the standard policy within the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS ). Incidences of prison violence have risen throughout the state. In the past, officers could look forward to their guaranteed regular two days off - a vital respite in this notably demanding and stressful profession. However, regular days off have become a thing of the past. Now, DOCCS regularly mandates involuntary and voluntary overtime on these rest days, leading to exhausting 16 or even 24-hour shifts. Officers are disconnected from their family life. My children miss their Dad, as my seven-year old wrote on her schoolwork, "I hope my Dad is home soon." (He wasn't.)

On top of the exhausting work schedule and lack of new hires to the Department, incidents of assaults and injuries for both staff and incarcerated individuals have continued to rise. New York State Senator Thomas O'Mara stated that overall prison violence has increased by 31% since the implementation of the HALT Act in March 2022. Source The officers striking at state facilities are calling for the repeal of the HALT act to help reduce violence. 

The tipping point for the current strikes was the outrage over a controversial new staffing policy declaring that “70% of our original staffing model is the new 100%.” This drastic reduction in staffing levels would permanently entrench unsafe and exhausting working conditions in corrections officers' lives. Who would want a job that shows so little regard for their well-being and safety? With fewer officers to manage daily operations, tensions within facilities are escalating, increasing the risk of violence, burnout, and security breaches. This policy not only endangers correctional workers but also threatens the overall stability of New York’s correctional system.

We implore New York Governor Kathy Hochul to meet with these workers' and support their demands for better treatment, fair hours, the repeal of the HALT Act, more policies to reduce contraband, and guaranteed protections of worker work life balance.

NYS Correction Officers deserve to be treated humanely, with dignity, respect, and care for their physical and mental health, just like incarcerated people deserve. We demand change, and we demand it now. It's time for NY State to step up and support those who work diligently to maintain our public safety. Remember this is "a Career, NOT a Sentence" and start treating its employees with the respect and dignity they deserve. 

Please, sign this petition in solidarity with New York's Corrections Officers and their families. Together, we can send a powerful message to the Governor and the State of New York: the unsafe and unjust conditions in correctional facilities must end now.