NY Fires 2K Prison Guards, Declares Strike Is 'Over'

New York says its prison guard strike is over, though that meant firing thousands of workers who refused to cross the picket line after three weeks. More than 2,000 state prison officers who failed to return to work by a Monday deadline were fired and will be barred from future civil service jobs in the state, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday, per the New York Times. An agreement to end the unauthorized strike—which coincided with the deaths of at least nine prisoners—was conditional on 85% of correctional officers returning to work by Monday morning. That threshold was not met as only 5,000 striking officers complied. Still, Hochul declared "this work stoppage is over."

It's time to "move forward towards making our prisons safer for all, supporting our correctional staff and recruiting the correction officers of the future," the governor said, noting the state would fulfill its obligations under the deal, said to include boosted overtime pay and a 90-day suspension of solitary confinement limits, which officers said prevented violent inmates from being isolated. A day later, Hochul signed an executive order barring the officers who failed to return to work from local law enforcement and state employment. She noted a state civil service law blocking most public employees from striking "authorizes the disqualification of applicants for civil service employment who have previously been dismissed from public service for misconduct," per the Times.

Correctional officers had complained of staffing shortages before walking off the job. There were just 10,000 available Tuesday, down from 13,500 in mid-February. Department of Corrections Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said there would be "a high-energy recruitment campaign moving forward," per Gothamist. He also said some 6,000 National Guard troops would remain deployed for the time being. Meanwhile, the Legal Aid Society asked for clarification on the deal to end the strike, noting the "vague terms" on the suspension of solitary confinement limits "threaten a boundless and illegal circumvention of critical legal protections," per CBS News. (More New York stories.)