ALBANY, NY — The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) is calling for an urgent meeting with the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to address what they say is a range of serious issues affecting the safety, well-being and working conditions of correctional officers. 

NYSCOPBA says the issues, which include staffing shortages, workplace conditions, the implementation of 12-hour shifts, scheduled regular days off (RDOs), vacation periods and other problems, have reached a critical point following the recent organization of a grassroots strike organized by NYSCOPBA members to highlight unsafe working conditions.

They say the announcement by DOCCS commissioner Daniel Martuscello recently, in which potentially thousands of inmates would be released up to 110 days prior to their earliest release date, fails to address the long-standing issues that led to the labor strike and the firing of 2,000 officers, has compounded the issue.