A group of corrections officers from the state-run Adirondack Correctional prison in Ray Brook strike outside the facility on Monday, March 3 around a burn barrel with the words “ADK STRONG” punched into the side. The striking workers did not want their faces photographed, for fear of retribution. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has accused Gov. Kathy Hochul of illegally excluding certain people from rehiring as her administration looks to rebuild staffing numbers in the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

In a letter sent to Hochul this week, Stefanik accuses Hochul and DOCCS of maintaining a ‘no call’ list of former department employees fired earlier this year. She says that the state is actively reaching out to some of the roughly 2,000 officers fired after the strike ended in mid-March.

But state officials say that claim is false. Thomas Mailey, spokesperson for DOCCS, said the department doesn’t have a ‘no call list’ and isn’t actively seeking to rehire fired personnel.

“The department does not have a ‘no call’ list, and is not actively contacting terminated correction officers following the illegal job action earlier this year,” he said. “If an individual wants to contest their termination, they must act, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between New York state and NYSCOPBA, and submit a grievance.”

After state corrections officers and sergeants went on strike in mid-February, the state took various steps to try to bring people back to work. Under the terms of the Public Employees Fair Employment Act, known as the Taylor Law, state employees are generally barred from stopping work in protest, and the law is written to penalize unions and those who organize work stoppages. NYSCOPBA, the union representing corrections officers and sergeants, never sanctioned the strike, but did work to negotiate on the side of the officers to resolve it.

The final agreement was struck after over 20 days of the strike, and required that officers return to work by the morning shift on March 10. Those not back to work by then were summarily fired.

Officers and union officials have said that some of the 2,000 people fired were on approved leave, medical and family leave included. Some came in later that day, expecting to work their normal shift, but were told they’d been fired when they arrived.

Under the terms of the Taylor Law, striking employees must be penalized up to two days pay per day on strike, and the state can appeal to the courts for orders to get people back to work under penalty of fine or prison time. Unions are absolutely barred from participating in or encouraging the strike, and can be decertified by the state if they’re found to have done so.

The Watertown Daily Times reported in May that the department was proceeding with the grievance process for about 600 people; not everyone was going to get an offer to come back from that, and not all who did get an offer were going to take it. The union said they were working on 3,200 grievances.

People in the grievance process have to undergo an individual review that considers their personal and professional history, their conduct during the strike, and their willingness to agree to a settlement with DOCCS that includes restoration of their employment. For cases where a settlement is not agreed to, the applicant can take it to independent arbitration.

In Stefanik’s letter, she says a list of about 200 people who Hochul and the DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III, have decided to bar from employment has been circulated among prison superintendents in an attempt to block those named from being rehired.

“It is important to note that these superintendents, who know what their facilities need best, have urged you and the commissioner to cease this retaliatory practice and rehire these individuals,” Stefanik said.

Calling it a ‘blacklist,’ Stefanik demanded answers from Hochul and Commissioner Martuscello, asking what the criteria to put someone on the list are, and if those named are being targeted for their opinions on the strike, state law or Hochul herself.

“Commissioner Martuscello and you have engaged in coercive, unethical and illegal actions against thousands of correctional officers and prison staff,” the Congresswoman wrote. “This blacklist is just the latest in your abuses of power as you seek to bully and intimidate.”

Stefanik said she’s also flagged the issue with the U.S. Department of Labor, calling for the Trump administration to investigate the state’s handling of Family Medical Leave Act benefits for fired officers who claim they were using that benefit when the deadline to return to work came.

Matt Janiszewski, spokesperson for Hochul’s office, said Stefanik’s claims are not true.

“Unlike Congresswoman Stefanik, Governor Hochul does not condone breaking the law,” he said. “Corrections officers who chose to participate in the illegal work stoppage earlier this year willingly put both the incarcerated population and their colleagues who remained on the job at risk. This administration follows the law and will do so if grievances are filed. The Governor’s commitment to reforming our correctional system is steadfast and she is grateful to all the COs who stayed throughout the strike and to those who returned to their duty.”

The state has tried to rebuild its ranks after losing thousands of officers after the strike; on Jan. 1, the department had 14,095 security staff, and in May, the first month with a full staff report after the strike ended, they were down to 11,359 security officers, including sergeants and lieutenants.

The latest report from DOCCS shows they’ve lost more officers since then, down to 11,319 as of Tuesday.

State officials have tried to boost recruiting numbers by bumping up pay and other benefits for existing and new hires, lowering the hiring age to 18, opening the department to out-of-state hires, and pledging to restrict use of 24 hour shifts.

Numbers will have to increase soon to keep the system operating; before the strike happened, about 2,000 security officer jobs were open, and the state has been relying on a limited number of National Guard troops to maintain staffing levels in the interim.

It does appear that some efforts are paying off early on though, as there’s been a 160% rise in applicants seeking to take the civil service exam to become a corrections officer.