All workers deserve good pay and benefits, adequate staffing levels, reasonable work hours and safe working conditions, and should be able to bargain for them. But the illegal strike by state correction officers was not a typical labor dispute. It appears to be a reactionary backlash against necessary reforms designed to curb excessive force.

While the recent deal may bring an end to the immediate work stoppage, New York state has an obligation to ensure that this strike — and now, its apparent resolution — do not become an excuse for backsliding on reforms or making conditions even worse for those inside prisons.

The correction officers who engaged in the unlawful strike presented a list of demands that made their priorities clear. One of their top demands, written in bold capital letters, was to “REPEAL THE HALT ACT.”

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

The HALT Solitary Confinement Act limits the use of solitary confinement to 15 days. Anything longer is considered psychological torture by United Nations experts. It also prohibits solitary confinement for vulnerable populations, including young people, the elderly, individuals with disabilities and pregnant or postpartum individuals.

Correction officers claim that the HALT Act has increased violence in prisons, yet a New York court found that DOCCS has

© Times Union