Prison Guards Blacklisted From Working for New York State

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed an executive order that will prohibit all prison guards who participated in the recent strike from working for New York State ever again!

Gov Hochul has made it clear that her office will not allow any of the state-employed prison guards who participated in the illegal strike that upended New York for 22 days from any future form of state employment.

Prison Guards Strike in New York

Back on February 17th, thousands of state workers at prisons across New York walked off the job and began picketing, in protest of forced overtime and safety concerns, according to WTEN. Two days later Gov. Hochul called the strike "a major public safety risk" and declared a state of emergency, calling in over 7,500 New York National Guard members to assist in staffing the correctional facilities.

Throughout the strike Hochul told anyone participating that there would be consequences, citing violations of the Taylor Law, which is supposed to prevent public employees from striking and keep essential services from being interrupted. "You walk out and violate the law, there are consequences," she said.

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Violations of the law can lead to fines, suspension, and in some cases termination, which is the case for striking prison guards. Gov. Hochul signed Executive Order No. 47.3 on Monday which states "the state will not reinstate those who broke the law to strike, nor will New York hire them in another department." The order instructs state agencies not to hire someone who got fired for taking part in the lawbreaking strike.

Thousands of Workers Can Never Work for New York Again

Approximately 2,000 correction officers did not return to work after Hochul and other state officials made several attempts to resolve the situation. Therefore, they will no longer be employable in any New York State job. According to Hochul, the state spent around $100 million of tax dollars to deal with the strike, which not only violated the Taylor Law, but was not sanctioned by union leadership at the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.