Prison Guards Make Deal To End Strike In New York State

After walking off the job for 22 days during what is considered an illegal strike in the Empire State, officials from the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) and the prison guards union, New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), have reached an agreement that gives prison guards a path to return to work.

The agreement made between the state and guards includes concessions on both sides and took effect at 6 a.m. on Monday, March 10, 2025, as long as guards agreed to return to work.

According to the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement that was reached, the following things are happening:

• New York State is temporarily suspending parts of the HALT Act. The changes in various elements of the Act that are being suspended will be determined on a facility-by-facility basis and will be reviewed in 30-day increments,
• The state will start using a Circuit Breaker metric to determine if enough staffing is present to operate each prison normally, or if staffing levels fall to a level that creates an emergency, additional changes in facility rules and HALT regulations will be adjusted temporarily,
• A new HALT Committee will be created to review and develop recommendations for potential changes or amendments to the existing HALT Act to the New York State Legislature.
  • The committee will include 1 NYSCOPBA representative from each prison, members from other ancillary state unions, and a representative from NYSDOCCS,
• State officials will work to eliminate 24-hour mandatory overtime. If a staffer voluntarily agrees to additional overtime, they will receive extra pay,
• A new staffing levels committee will be created to help ensure that guard schedules are fair and balanced with eight and 12-hour shifts,
• The state agrees not to issue any personnel discipline for the guards participating in an illegal strike,
• Along with several other provisions,

You can read the entire agreement and all of the terms here.

Both state officials and prison guards have declared that the strike is over, as most guards have returned to work. However, several guards were still unhappy with this agreement, as they wanted a full repeal of the HALT Act. Many of those guards refused to return to work and were subsequently fired.

READ MORE: What Is The HALT Act And What Does It Do?

According to Corrections1, more than 2,000 guards have been fired because they complied with the agreement.

The National Guard will stay in place at various prisons to support the prison guards and help maintain security levels.

Now, residents in the Empire State will see if prison guards will start following the law they swore to uphold.