RTDNA 2025 - Radio - NCPR - Continuing Coverage - New York's Prison Strike

About 150 people gathered across the street from Clinton Correctional Facility as a part of statewide strikes and protests for safer working conditions in the state’s prisons. Photo: Cara Chapman

Feb 06, 2026 —

On February 17, 2025, corrections officers at two prisons in Upstate New York walked off the job to protest working conditions, even though they weren’t authorized to do so by their union, and even though state employees aren’t allowed to strike. A day later, the strike had spread to more than half of the state’s 42 prisons. Over the next three weeks, the illegal “wildcat” strike would paralyze the New York prison system, endangering staff and inmates alike, and drawing attention to a system in crisis.

NCPR NewsRTDNA 2025 – Radio – NCPR – Continuing Coverage – New York’s Prison Strike

This was an urgent story for North Country Public Radio’s listeners. Our region is home to more than a dozen prisons. Thousands of families have survived for decades off the salaries of corrections officers. And thousands more families have made the trek, mostly from New York’s cities, to visit their loved ones incarcerated here. Over about two months, NCPR published more than a dozen stories about the strike, its impacts, and its context in history.

Within 24 hours, NCPR had a reporter on the ground outside New York’s most notorious maximum security prison, Dannemora Correctional. The following day we were in touch with people incarcerated inside these prisons… By the weekend, our reporter was sharing the news with the nation on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Prisons are notoriously opaque, but NCPR was perfectly positioned to serve its community and provide some of the most complete reporting on the strike in the state, despite having only three full-time reporters, one show host, and one editor. We marshaled contacts and sources built over decades of reporting, centering human voices on all sides of the conflict and giving crucial and sobering insight into what was really happening inside. And we offered historical context as well as following ongoing developments.

The feedback to our reporting highlights the public service of shedding light on a very complicated situation that’s all but completely hidden from public view. Here are a couple:

“I found your story on conditions inside to be extraordinary and beautiful. It was so compelling to use so much tape of family members’ and union pres urgent voices to describe different elements of the situation. They really helped us picture it.” — Jennifer Mitchell, Colton

“A good piece with a balance of voices.” – A mother of the corrections officer interviewed.

AUDIO ENTRY:

00:00 – :29 – Initial reporting on news of prison strike (2/18/25) (excerpt)

:32 – 4:48 – In the North Country and around NY, prison officers protest for safer working conditions (2/19/25) (complete story)

Our deep sourcing in the prison community allowed us to be on the ground as soon as news of the prison strike broke. This quick-turn story features the voices of corrections officers and their families on the picket line, but also advocates for inmates who shared a very different perspective on what was happening and why.

4:49 – 8:28 – Unrest in Ogdensburg, Malone prisons as officers and advocates trade blame (2/20/25) (complete story)

A day later, our sourcing allowed us to feature the voices of incarcerated people terrified by the effects of the strike, including being locked inside their dorms without adequate food or water. “Anything could happen,” one incarcerated person said.

8:29 – 9:48 – Prison guards on strike have a list of complaints. Does NY’s deal address them? (2/28/25) (excerpt)

As news of a possible deal to end the strike broke, our reporters broke down the deal and what obstacles still remained. The deal wasn’t enough to bring COs back to work.

9:50 – 15:16 – Here’s what conditions inside NY prisons have been like during the strikes (2/28/25) (complete story)

NCPR reporters worked doggedly to find voices of people inside the prison walls who could give firsthand accounts of the effects of the strike, capturing the perspectives of people on all sides of the issue.

15:20 – 17:00 – Investigation into the power and patronage of NY’s prison commissioner (3/6/25) (excerpt)

We wanted to provide the broadest possible context about the prison strike for our listeners and readers. So we interviewed a reporter for another news outlet, New York Focus, who had done excellent reporting on the background of the state prison system’s commissioner, Daniel Martuscello.

17:04 – 17:58 – New York prison strike ends as most officers return to work, officials say (3/10/25) (excerpt)

Reporting from our Albany correspondent (shared as part of the New York Public News Network) on the end of the strike.

18:00 – 20:36 – Some fired COs want to work for local counties. Hochul’s executive order forbids it (3/17/25) (complete story)

After the strike ended, Gov. Hochul acted to prevent strikers from applying for other jobs in local government. We reported on how that policy could have a significant effect on the North Country region, where corrections officers are many and the labor pool is thin.

20:41 – 29:05 – The rise and decline of NY prisons, and how closures impact the North Country (3/30/25) (complete story)

With the prison system’s crisis in the spotlight for all New Yorkers and across the country, we thought it was critical to take a step back and examine how we got here – why New York has so many prisons in the first place, why they’re so far from the cities where most incarcerated people come from, and how our region – the North Country – became so reliant on them for economic development. This story takes a deep look, made possible by NCPR’s steady and continued reporting on the prison system over decades.

ALL THE STORIES IN OUR CONTINUING COVERAGE:

2/18/25: Gov. Hochul plans to deploy troops as prison officers strike around NY

2/19/25: In the North Country and around NY, prison officers protest for safer working conditions

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ncpr/reel/DGRbE83MeMC/

2/20/25: Unrest in Ogdensburg, Malone prisons as officers and advocates trade blame

2/25/25: Labor relations expert weighs in on NY prison strikes

2/28/25: Prison guards on strike have a list of complaints. Does NY’s deal address them?

2/28/25: Here’s what conditions inside NY prisons have been like during the strikes

3/5/25: As COs rallied in Albany, advocates say the lives of the incarcerated are at risk

3/6/25: Investigation into the power and patronage of NY’s prison commissioner

3/10/25: New York prison strike ends as most officers return to work, officials say

3/17/25: Some fired COs want to work for local counties. Hochul’s executive order forbids it