March 5, 2025 — On Feb. 17, President’s Day, media outlets began reporting corrections officers (COs) at several statewide facilities were engaging in work stoppages in protest of working conditions and short staffing. Later that same day, PEF sent an email to all members at DOCCS and Corrections Based Operations associated with OMH, informing them about their rights, if they were asked to report to a facility to do work typically performed by COs.
“We explained to members and leaders their rights to avoid being placed in unsafe environments and hosted a statewide Zoom meeting for impacted members,” said PEF President Wayne Spence. “As soon as we heard about it, our first priority was the health and safety of our members. These are dangerous jobs in the best of circumstances and PEF members, without the proper training, should not be doing things like moving incarcerated individuals around inside facilities or delivering food to dormitories without security escorts.”
PEF circulated a Right of Refusal Fact Sheet created by the Health & Safety Department that gave members a script for what to say if they were assigned a task that they thought placed them at risk of death or serious physical harm.
PEF staff also set up a web form for members to report what was happening to them and used the information to submit Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) complaints, as well as affidavits for a possible lawsuit against the State.
Within less than a week, late in the evening on Feb. 23, PEF entered into two Memorandums of Agreement with the state.
“Armed with the PESH complaints and affidavits many members submitted, the PEF Legal Department, with the assistance of attorney Mark Richard and his firm, devised a legal strategy in advance and were prepared to file suit if negotiations were not productive,” said President Spence.
The memorandums accomplished two primary goals:
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- providing an overtime rate of 2.5 times a members’ regular rate of pay for any hours worked starting at 7 a.m. Feb. 17, for both overtime eligible and ineligible employees at DOCCS, as well as community supervision employees working overtime to cover the deployment of coworkers. (Read the MOA here.)
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- outlining terms and conditions of employment during this crisis, including, among others, PEF-represented DOCCS nurses and medical staff will not have any contact with incarcerated individuals without a trained security escort; PEF parole officers will not be assigned to security assignments or duties inside prisons; and PEF-represented employees will, with limited exceptions, be provided with person alarms. (Read the MOA here.)
On Feb. 25, PEF and the State signed a third MOA providing the same 2.5 times OT rate to OMH members who work in Corrections Based Operations at facilities. (Read the MOA here.)
“This week has seen all impacted members perform with extraordinary professionalism during the most difficult of circumstances,” President Spence said. “We can’t recognize them enough for their continued courage and sacrifice. In addition, I’m incredibly proud of the staff at PEF who worked for a week straight to engage members, draft complaints, prepare lawsuits, and inform members what was going on.”
