BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Retired corrections officer Jerry “Satch” Sawyer and several family members have called on the city to support calls for safer working conditions at prisons.

Corrections officers across the state and the North Country are in the second week of strikes aimed at creating safer working conditions at state correctional facilities.

The strikes have been met with an abundance of community support as large gatherings of corrections officers, friends and family members picket outside of the facilities.

The action violates the Taylor Law which prohibits public employees from striking and has been met with a variety of what corrections officers describe as threats from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

At the center of the issue are a series of changes made by state officials which officers say have made working conditions unsafe and led to retention and recruitment issues.

That means officers are working longer hours in worse conditions. They say that’s emboldened some prisoners to act more violently against them and other inmates that are hoping to serve their time and return to their families.

For her part, Hochul has been critical of the strikes and demanded the officers return to work. A federal judge backed her call, but that has not persuaded the officers to break their lines, despite some of their fellow corrections officers being stuck inside for more than a week as the strikes continue.

In Ogdensburg, the situation escalated last week when inmates were able to take control of several dorms, prompting a Corrections Emergency Response Team to be deployed to restore order.

Sawyer told council Monday that he’s been on the line with his “brother and sisters” all week. He spoke through teary eyes and a hoarse voice as he gave an emotional plea for the city to show their support through a resolution.

He recalled his lengthy corrections career and how he once wore the uniform with such pride that he stopped drinking coffee for fear of staining it.

Sawyer said that at some point something changed. He said the state abandoned the officers at the ground level and has stripped the pride and honor from the position.

Sawyer said that the officers and their families are suffering as the state has been slow to meet the demands of officers.

The strikes haven’t fallen completely on deaf ears, on Monday mediation between the Department of Correction and NYSCOPBA began, but at this time it sounds like little progress has been made.

The wives of correctional officers also spoke at the meeting urging the city to take action.

Although no resolution was passed, Mayor Michael Tooley said that he and other council members would be meeting with the St. Lawrence County Prison Task Force Thursday to discuss what the most impactful course of action would be.

Correctional officers are protesting unsafe working conditions at 40 prisons throughout the state, including prisons in Gouverneur, Ogdensburg and Malone.

The protests began on Monday, Feb. 17, followed by mass walk-outs the following day. Officers say state officials’ unwillingness to repeal the controversial HALT Act is at the heart of the walk-outs and protests, with many stating the legislation has made correctional jobs far more dangerous in recent years.

Despite state laws that prohibit public employees from striking, mass call-ins and walk-outs were staged, followed by numerous protests.

Many corrections officers shared their concerns with North Country This week about unsafe working conditions, but were unwilling to go on the record due to fear of retaliation from their employer.

Feb. 17

Reports of corrections officers calling in or walking off the job initially reached North Country This Week during the morning hours of Feb. 17, though reports of local walk-outs were not verified.

Corrections officers located at Upstate Correctional in Malone had initially contacted NCTW to raise awareness of the initial protests, saying that further protests were planned due to the unsafe working conditions correctional officers were facing on a daily basis.

The officers also stated they and their co-workers were seeking an end to the HALT Act as part of the protests.

Feb. 18

Following mass protests that left staffing levels low in all prisons, Governor Kathy Hochul prepared to deploy over 3,500 National Guard members to “protect the safety of correctional officers, DOCCS population and upstate communities.”

But corrections officers throughout the state said the governor and state officials have failed to safeguard them for many years following the move.

Hochul denounced the actions of the corrections officers, saying they had taken “illegal and unlawful actions.”

She called for an end to the protests immediately, suggesting COs could face disciplinary action if they failed to do so.

“We will not allow these individuals to jeopardize the safety of their colleagues, incarcerated people, and the residents of the communities surrounding our correctional facilities,” Hochul said.

The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, Inc. also denounced “all strikes, job actions, slowdowns, call-ins, and other similar actions” in a public statement on Feb. 18.

The union called for any plans and actions to cease immediately in the release.

Feb. 19

The Executive Board of the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association Inc. issued a list of demands on Wednesday, Feb. 19 to DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello and multiple high level staffers from the governor’s office.

In a release from NYSCOPBA last week, President Chris Summers said the meeting was held to discuss “at length the issues we have raised for years that have fallen on deaf ears and that have ultimately contributed to the members’ walking off the job.”

In his letter, Summers said the union has argued for several demands that have been drafted by the membership after walking off the job.

“DOCCS, in turn, proposed certain monetary incentives to potentially entice the membership to return to work. At this point, the Executive Board communicated its belief that the membership needs to see several drastic improvements to working conditions before they would even consider returning to work,” Summers wrote.

According to Summers, at the end of the meeting the parties agreed that the Executive Board would submit its top priority demands to be addressed immediately by the governor.

They include no penalties for members who walked off the job, suspension of HALT or persistent holiday schedule to ease the burden on staff, two-pay-grade increase for all COs and Sergeants to help with recruitment and retention and to discuss all outstanding financial, staffing and working condition issues before an independent mediator to begin immediately, according to Summers’ letter.

Feb. 20

Despite calls for mediation, the governor took alternative action by adding a 30-day amendment to her budget proposal.

The amendment included a provision that, if included in the 2025-26 budget, would give the governor the power to close five additional state prisons.

The move was met with condemnation from corrections officers and politicians alike, with Assemblyman Scott Gray calling the move “tone deaf” and likening the situation to “lighting a match next to a keg of powder.”

Both Gray and Senator Mark Walcyzk were also on hand at both Gouverneur and Riverview Correctional Facilities multiple times last week, visiting with officers and their families and taking tours of the facilities following uprisings by inmates.

The legislators’ visits came mere hours after reports of inmate uprisings, which were confirmed by Ogdensburg Police.

According to Chief Mark Kearns, Corrections Emergency Response Teams were called to Riverview after a number of inmates were reported as being out of control.

The teams arrived shortly after 1 a.m., eventually restoring order by 8 a.m.

No officers were injured and some incarcerated individuals reportedly received minor injuries from each other.

Reports of attempted escapes and people climbing fences were false, police said.

Feb. 21

Hochul announced she had secured the services of a mediator, Martin Scheinman, who would attempt to broker a deal between NYSCOPBA and the state.

Scheinman said he held a formal meeting with NYSCOPBA officials on Feb. 21, at which time union leaders pressed for formal mediation to be pushed forward to Feb. 24 instead of the planned start of Feb. 25.

Officials on both sides agreed to the plan, agreeing that formal mediation needed to occur as soon as possible.

But the hiring of Scheinman came under fire by many correctional officers, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.

Public records, including through the Federal Election Commission, show Scheinman has donated thousands of dollars to numerous politicians over the last two decades, including multiple donations to former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Hochul.

Feb. 24

Mediation got underway between NYSCOPBA union leaders and state officials after officers issued a list of “absolutes” that needed to be met before any officers would return to the job.

Among them, officers were seeking a guarantee that no officers would be punished for walk-offs and any other actions taken, a repeal of the HALT Act, improvements in workplace safety and policies, along with two pay-grade bumps for officers and sergeants, along with a number of policy changes union leaders say will lead to recruitment and retention improvements.

While mediation was a primary focal point on Feb. 24, St. Lawrence County legislators unanimously supported correctional officers when they passed a resolution during the evening’s Finance Committee meeting.

Legislators across the board said it was imperative to stand with corrections officers as they fought for “common sense reforms” to laws that placed them in increasing danger as they walked “the most dangerous beat in New York State.”

The hostile amendment called for a full repeal of HALT, which State Senator Dan Stec attempted to complete when he introduced a hostile resolution during the legislative session that day.

The resolution was struck down on a party line vote, leaving many frustrated but “not surprised by the outcome,” according to Stec.

Feb. 25

In an update provided by NYSCOPBA Public Relations Director James Miller, the first day of mediation involved many talking points but little action.

“Day one  of mediation concluded late yesterday afternoon and there were extensive discussions with the State and DOCCS on the need for operational changes, including immediately suspending certain provisions of HALT during the staffing crisis, potential legislative changes to permanently change HALT, elimination of triple shifts, legal mail scanning, no departmental discipline for members considered AWOL, increased recruitment efforts and incentives to bolster staffing,” Miller said.

He also confirmed that inmates were being transferred from Collins Correctional Facility to other facilities to alleviate the staffing issues experienced there.

News Editor Jimmy Lawton contributed to this story.

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