Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Wednesday afternoon activating more than 3,500 of the New York National Guard in response to a wildcat strike by hundreds of state correction officers. 

Hochul’s order also greenlights additional overtime pay for corrections officers being deployed to the state’s 42 penitentiaries. Approximately 33 facilities are currently on lockdown due to a lack of staff, according to lawyers representing prisoners. 

On Monday morning, Guard began reporting as “advance crews” at some of those facilities, according to a press release from Hochul’s office. They are there to “ and supplement” correction officers and to make sure people in prison are getting meals and medications. They are also tasked with “maintaining general order” of those unnamed sites. 

The labor unrest, which began earlier this week, comes a day before a group of state correction officers are expected to be criminally charged Thursday for their roles in the fatal beating of an incarcerated man in Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County on Dec. 10, according to the Albany Times Union.  

Approximately 13,229 correction officers are currently employed to watch over roughly 33,368 people behind bars. Despite the strike, the governor’s office reported that prisoners have continued to receive their meals and, by late Wednesday, no violent assaults or riots had been reported. 

“Additional are expected to report for duty in the coming hours and days,” the state press release said. 

Hochul has also transferred some state troopers to guard duty outside several prisons. 

“These disruptive and unsanctioned work stoppages by some correction officers must end as they are jeopardizing the safety of their colleagues, the prison population, and causing undue fear for the residents in the surrounding communities,” Hochul said in a statement. 

The ongoing lockdowns have blocked some people behind bars from receiving medical care and visits from friends and family, and have led to cancellation of almost all programming, including mental health counseling and courses leading to high school equivalency degrees, according to prison officials and lawyers for people behind bars. 

In the fatal beating, Robert Brooks, 43, was kicked and punched by guards who held him down on a medical bed at the prison, according to body camera footage from officers involved. On Dec. 27, state Attorney General Letitia James released footage of four officers at the scene who apparently didn’t realize the cameras were recording. At least three sergeants and a nurse were also present during the beatdown, the videos show.

Under New York’s so-called Taylor Law, public employees are barred from striking. Enacted in 1967, the law gives municipal workers the ability to collectively bargain their contracts and other protections in return for outlawing strikes.

The New York State Correction Officers Benevolent Association has not formally endorsed the strike. But the union is negotiating with state officials and has detailed its demands, including repealing the law that limits the use of solitary and hiring additional staff. 

A “wildcat” strike is a worker action not ed by a union.

The labor dispute comes after the commissioner of the prison system, Daniel Martuscello, earlier this month asked his top deputies to come up with a broad plan to deal with ongoing staff shortages. In a Feb. 10 memo, he ordered superintendents to “redefine” how they operate with fewer officers, noting that “70% of our original staffing model is the new 100%.” 

Solitary Fight

Hochul has brought on independent mediator Martin Scheinman to “help bring a quick and immediate end to this illegal work stoppage,” according to her office. 

Earlier Wednesday, the Hochul istration also went to court to seek a temporary restraining order to force the striking officers to end the illegal strike.

But the court case has had little impact on the walkout so far. 

The correction officers say they are especially upset about the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Act (HALT). That measure, signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, restricts the use of solitary to 15 days and bans it for pregnant women and people with mental illness. It took full effect in March 2022. 

The correction officers’ union has urged Hochul to repeal the law. Correction officers contend that people who act out in dangerous and violent ways must be punished even if that means isolating them for weeks or months at a time. 

“Without that, they’re just going and doing whatever they want and nothing happens to them,” union president Chris Summers told NBC News Channel 13 upstate on Feb. 13. “If you get into a fight on the dorm in the morning, they leave them there, and in the afternoon they’re doing the same thing all over again.

Even with the law in place, prison officials have repeatedly violated the 15-day limit, according to an investigation by New York Focus. 

ers of the solitary confinement measure cite medical research that shows isolating people for long stretches is akin to torture and causes serious mental harm. 

After Brooks’ murder, Hochul vowed reforms, including $400 million for additional security cameras in all state prisons. 

Many criminal justice reformers believe that the strike — and the union demands— mask deeper problems in the system.  

“It feels very much like an attempt to divert attention from the reality,” said Antony Gemmell, a Legal Aid Society supervising attorney in the Prisoner Rights Project. “In New York prisons, there is a pervasive culture of racism and violence among DOCCS staff that needs to be rooted out.”