New York State Governor Kathy Hochul Responds To Prison Strike

With the ongoing strike for prison guards in New York state due to unsafe working conditions, Gov. Kathy Hochul has stepped in response to the situation. Keeping reading for what the governor had to say.

The strike began last Monday and has affected at least a dozen prisons where they say staffing shortages and dangerous conditions are placing their safety at risk. For example, the Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County was recently locked down last week just after employees said they were threatened and then inmates barricaded themselves inside of dorms.

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New York State Governor Kathy Hochul Responds To Prison Strike

According to NBC NEWS, Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed an executive order which will dispatch National Guard members to New York state prisons where corrections officers are holding unauthorized strikes. This executive order will guarantee "public order and protection of public property" at all facilities plus will allow for corrections officers who are showing up to work to receive overtime compensation and direct the state corrections department to bring in an independent mediator to help resolve the strike.

"These disruptive and unsanctioned work stoppages by some correction officers must end as they are jeopardizing the safety of their colleagues, the prison population, and causing undue fear for the residents in the surrounding communities," - Governor Kathy Hochul

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It has been reported that more than 3,500 National Guard members reported for duty will maintain general order in the prisons in addition to distributing meals plus medication to all the inmates that require it.

According to the officers' union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, both said these walkouts and demonstrations outside of facilities, including Collins, have been unsanctioned as leadership attempts to negotiate a resolution with the governor's office and the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.