“This crisis has seen all impacted members perform with extraordinary professionalism during the most difficult of circumstances. We can’t recognize them enough for their continued courage and sacrifice.” — PEF President Wayne Spence
March 13, 2025: The Memorandums of Agreement signed by PEF and the Governor which provide an overtime rate of 2.5 times a members’ regular rate of pay, restricts PEF-represented DOCCS staff from coming into contact with incarcerated individuals without a trained security escort, provide relief to Parole Officers who were previously assigned duties inside prisons and gives PEF-represented employees personal alarms, has been extended to April 9 due to a declaration of emergency from Governor Kathy Hochul. Consistent with Executive Orders on the State of Emergency these MOAs will now expire no earlier than April 9, 2025.
March 12, 2025: If you missed the Telephone Town Hall held by PEF President Wayne Spence updating members on the crisis, you can watch it below.
March 10, 2025: PEF President Wayne Spence will host a Telephone Town Hall for PEF members who work at DOCCS and OMH-CBO on Wed, March 12, at 6 p.m. Your personal phone will be auto-dialed at that time, but if it is not, you call in directly at (800) 263-5977. The call will be brief — 30 minutes or less — and provide the latest information on the end of the corrections officers’ strike and what the union expects to happen next.
March 7, 2025: PEF reached a verbal agreement with DOCCS that absolutely no parole staff will be called or assigned to work or will be on-call this weekend (March 8 & 9, 2025). We will continue conversations next week over the equitable and reasonable distribution of on-call and overtime assignments. In the meantime, PEF parole officers, please enjoy a much-needed and well-deserved weekend off! Thank you for everything you’ve done throughout this crisis. If you are called over the weekend, please contact PEF Director of Statewide Field Services at Katherine.Vorwald@pef.org.
PEF-Represented Family Members Impacted by Loss of Insurance Due to the Corrections Officer Strike:
We have heard reports from PEF members who have lost their health insurance because their spouse/domestic partner was/is a Corrections Officer (CO) who had their insurance terminated effective February 17 because of the strike. If you are in this situation, please note that the termination of your spouse/domestic partner’s health insurance is “a qualifying event” entitling you, as long as you are otherwise eligible, to enroll or change your enrollment in NYSHIP immediately without a waiting period. The enrollment may be individual or family, including the CO spouse/domestic partner. To enroll you must complete the PS-404 Form and submit it directly to your Agency Health Benefits Administrator for processing. You will need documentation of the termination of the family member’s health insurance. If you need assistance with the enrollment, please contact the PEF Health Benefits Team at healthbenefits@pef.org.
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March 6, 2025: Read the message that was sent from PEF President Spence via email to DOCCS/OMH-CBO members. All members are encouraged to fill out this form to report their current working conditions so PEF can continue advocating for improvements to the terms and conditions of the work you’re doing as well as your health and safety.
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Feb. 25, 2023: PEF signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the State providing a 2.5 times OT rate to OMH members who work in Corrections Based Operations at facilities. (Read the MOA here.)
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Feb. 23, 2025: PEF signed two Memorandums of Agreement with New York State. They accomplished two primary goals:
- 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.)
- Outlined the 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.)
“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,” said PEF President Wayne Spence. “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.”
Feb. 17, 2025: On 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.
