Saratoga County is among the local municipalities looking to hire some of the New York state corrections officers fired after an unsanctioned strike this month.
Around 2,000 corrections officers were fired after striking for three weeks. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul then signed an executive order barring them from applying to work in other state and local government agencies.
Under pressure, Hochul has since said the order will expire early next month for local jobs, but the ban will remain in effect for state roles.
Saratoga County Supervisor Phil Barrett, a Republican, tells WAMC he’s keen on hiring officers fired from the strike.
“Saratoga County has six open positions for corrections officers, which is a good position when compared to many other counties, some have dozens of openings. And these folks who have been fired by New York state should be allowed to work in their chosen profession for another employer,” said Barrett.
Saratoga, Dutchess, and Fulton counties are among those looking to hire from the newly unemployed pool of corrections officers. Rensselaer County has already sworn in three fired officers.
“In Saratoga County, I and our team, we’ve negotiated four union contracts over a couple year span, so we understand that there’s give and take. But if somebody as an issue with the employer and leaves the employer, or corrective action is taken by the employer, that should not preclude them from being able to seek employment in their chosen profession with a different organization,” said Barrett.
Saratoga County Undersheriff Jeff Brown, who is running for sheriff in November’s election, says the county was impacted by the strike.
“We had six deputy sheriffs that were deployed as a part of the National Guard to the state prisons so that left our road patrols shorthanded. Our jail, we still have state-ready inmates that the state has not taken from us due to the issues that they’re having so our population at our jail has gone up which, obviously, is a larger workload on those that work inside,” said Brown.
Brown adds he’s confident any former state COs hired by the county will be qualified for the job.
“Just like any other employee being hired at the sheriff’s office, we have a vetting procedure with extensive background investigation and a whole hiring process they have to pass through,” said Brown.
The strike was focused around officers’ demands to repeal the HALT Act, which limits the use of solitary confinement, as well as their discontent with long hours and dangerous working conditions.
In a letter sent to the New York State Associations of Counties, the New York Conference of Mayors, and the New York Association of Towns, Homeland Security Commissioner Jackie Bray said any fired officers would need to be re-certified as peace officers, noting they “willfully disregarded” their responsibility to protect “the public, their colleagues, and the incarcerated population.”