Incarcerated NYers on the Prison Guard Wildcat Strike: ‘They Want to Go Back to the Good Old Days of Just Beating and Killing Guys’

On Monday, hundreds of correction officers employed by the state's prison agency, DOCCS, began an unauthorized strike, citing understaffing and unsafe working conditions. As of Wednesday afternoon, the strike had spread to more than 30 of the state's 42 prisons, with officers staging protests in front of prison gates. 

Shortly after the strike began, panic began to set in among incarcerated people at prisons where COs had walked off the job, as they waited hours for vital medications and food. Incarcerated people, advocates, and family members with loved ones inside prison who spoke to Hell Gate reported medications haven't been distributed and meals have been served late, cold, or not at all in some facilities. Without adequate staffing, access to recreational space in some prisons has been cut off, and lawyers have struggled to reach their clients.