New York State May Fire Hundreds of Prison Guards This Week

As the protracted fight between several New York State Correctional Officers and leaders in the Empire State has dragged into its second full week, officials from Albany have made moves to increase the pressure on the prison guards who are participating in an illegal work stoppage. More than 100 state public officers have been engaged in a strike that is against New York law, and it seems that attempts to convince the prison guards to honor their oath and return to work are falling on deaf ears among the group, who refuse to return to work.

New York State prisons, which have been operating understaffed for a while, have seen disruptions and deaths increase over the last few weeks as these prison guards have refused to go back to work.

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The striking Correctional Officers, who have already lost their taxpayer-paid health insurance benefits due to job abandonment and may even be arrested for breaking the law, are now on the verge of being fired as state employees.

According to reports from WWNY-TV and WETM-TV, Correctional Officers who did not return to work on Saturday, March 1, 2025, will be dismissed from employment with the State of New York. Those COs received text messages and other communications from the Office of Employee Relations that said their termination was due to job abandonment or being considered Absent Without Leave (AWOL). They were subject to additional financial penalties and imprisonment in jail for their illegal actions.

The prison guards are accused of violating New York State's Public Employees' Fair Employment Act, commonly known as the Taylor Law, which prevents public officers from striking.

Prison guards have said that they have walked off the job because the New York State HALT Act prevents them from doing their jobs. Even with the New York State Supreme Court ordering the officers to go back to work, they have still refused. Since these COs have essentially walked off the job, state officials feel that this is the ultimate result and the officers keeping thier jobs and insurance with fully within their own control.