NYS Capital — It’s been exactly one year since the 22-day wildcat Corrections Officers strike in New York State, when thousands of CO’s walked off the job, calling for better pay, less overtime, and an end to the HALT Act.
Since then the State has deployed National Guardsmen to fill the void of staffing as a result of issues prior to, and after, the strike. DOCCS estimates about 4600 vacancies still exist right now.
About $700 million has been spent on the National Guard’s presence since then, with $500 million more proposed in the FY2027 to continue filling that void, totaling more than $1 billion.
Two thousand COs were fired in the wake of the strike. During this year’s Public Protection Budget Hearing, DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello was pressed by NYS Senator Tom O’Mara (R-Elmira) about the firings.
O’Mara: “We still have a long way to go on this shortage, and some 2000 corrections officers were fired, do you regret that decision.”
Martuscello: “No”
O’Mara: “Wouldn’t it be helpful to offer them, to come back at this point, haven’t they been punished enough?”
Martuscello: “Under the provision of the collective bargaining agreement, which by the way, four different agreements where they had opportunities to come back over 22 days…failed to do so in the final one. How many opportunities are you going to get, right? So they made their decision.”
O’Mara: “It’s been a long time, it’s not ‘how many opportunities are they gonna get.’ It’s 22 days Commissioner.”
Martuscello: “Let me answer your question. So, we terminated, under provision of the collective bargaining agreement, which allowed for them to grieve and get due process. We reviewed grievances. I put criteria in place such as if you’re a strike leader, you will never work for me again [or] if you have high discipline or investigatory. As a result of that review process, we’ve rehired over 900 Corrections Officers back into the system. We have given them an opportunity to come back.”
Commissioner Martuscello also lined out measures they’ve taken to improve staffing. Those include increased funding for recruitment, which includes a recruitment and advertising firm. He says they’ve increased salaries, education, retention bonuses and changed laws surrounding residency restrictions.
He says that’s resulted in 60,000 people filling out interest forms, 20,000 taking the exam. With that, 69 percent more people were appointed in 2025 compared to 2024, with 43 percent increase in graduations in 2025 compared to 2024.
Meanwhile, the Corrections Officers union, NYSCOPBA, has a different view of the progress in the last year.
In his written budget hearing testimony, Chris Summers, President NYS Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, Inc. said while they condemn the strike happening without their consent, the context surrounding the moment cannot be ignored. He added that NYSCOPBA has raised concerns over the years, and that they’ve been overlooked.
“The State Legislature and the Executive have made it worse, and we have consistently sounded the alarm. The problems plaguing the system are multifaceted and severe. They include increasing violence, unsafe working conditions, chronic staffing shortages, mandatory overtime, erosion of benefits, lack of meaningful time off, and an absence of incentives to counteract the rising attrition rates. These compounding failures have pushed the system into the crisis we face today,” the testimony says.