By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
COXSACKIE — As the corrections officers’ strike at 25 prisons around New York state entered its second week Monday, several elected officials turned out at the picket line in Coxsackie to voice their support.
With roughly 100 corrections officers and their supporters lined up along Route 9W outside the Coxsackie Correctional Facility, Assemblyman Chris Tague and fellow Assemblyman Joe Angelino met with striking workers Monday morning.
“There are Assembly members and senators and other members in government who have these folks’ backs and we want them to know that we have their backs,” Tague said. “If they can stand out here for hours on end in the cold to stand up for what they believe in, then their elected officials should be here to support them and that’s what Joe and I are doing this morning.”
Tague said it was the second time he visited the picket line.
Corrections officers at more than two dozen prisons around the state went on strike last week demanding increased staffing at corrections facilities, policies to increase safety, and an end to mandatory second and third shifts that sometimes mean officers have to work 24 hours at a stretch, creating what they call a dangerous situation.
“They are not asking for more money, they are not asking for better benefits. All they are asking for is a safe and secure work environment,” Tague said. “It’s not just the CO’s — this is about the inmates as well. There are serious safety concerns on both sides and without these people in there doing their job, we have a really big problem on our hands.”
Among the policy changes the COs are seeking is the repeal of the HALT Act, legislation passed in 2022 that put severe limitations on when solitary confinement can be used as a disciplinary measure for inmates.
A handwritten sign posted at the strike also called for outside charges being filed against inmates for assault, lewd conduct, sexual harassment and gang assaults. The strikers also called for the scanning of all mail that comes into prisons and taking additional steps to prevent dangerous contraband from entering the facilities, among other issues.
Last week, the governor called up 4,500 National Guard members to help staff the facilities where striking workers were not on the job.
