Interviewer: The New York correction officers remain on the picket lines, refusing to return to work as planned. The state has now begun terminating striking correction officers and canceling their health insurance. So what are the rights of the government and the correction officers and the rights of the inmates who rely on these people for protection? So, managing partner Paul Harding from Harding Mazzotti is here. Thanks for being with us. First big question. Is this strike legal?
Paul: Right. So, legal strikes, you know, probably not a conversation people have had before, but when your union endorses your strike, it’s a legal strike. When your union does not, and here, NYSCOBA is not endorsing the strike, so technically, we have an illegal strike by the correction officers.
Interviewer: So when deemed illegal like that, who can then file a potential lawsuit? Would it be the attorney general, the governor?
Paul: Yeah. So the attorney general representing the State of New York can say, listen, you can’t do that. You, as a public employee, you can’t just choose to go on strike, and if you do, bad things can follow. You could be fired. There even could be criminal charges. There’s a thing called the Taylor Law, which would give them the right to do that. Do I think that’s the track it’s going down? Not necessarily, but that stuff is out there.
Interviewer: And they could be fined too, I imagine. Anything’s on the table?
Paul: Everything’s on the table. I think what the hope is is that there’s a different resolution.
Interviewer: Yeah. So then, is it legal for New York State to fire these CEOs?
Paul: They can do it. We saw it back in the ’80s or ’90s. Ronald Reagan, whenever he was president, they had the air traffic controllers and he threatened to fire them. No one thought it would happen. Fired all of them and had to start fresh. We were kind of, I guess, not flying back then. So it could happen. They could clean out, start fresh. Again, it’s on the table. I don’t think it’s the solution that anyone wants to see.
Interviewer: Yeah. And there’s been so much focus on the CEOs. What about the inmates? What are the rights of the inmates as all this is happening?
Paul: So right now, from what I understand, that they’re being fed and that they’re being brought back to their cell, but there’s no programs. There’s no visitation. So yeah, they’re being affected by this also because, you know, they cannot allow them to do their normal stuff. There’s just no staff, or minimal staff, there running it. They get the National Guard in many instances.
Interviewer: Yeah. There was an offer on the table, and that offer was rejected. Do you think that an agreement is going to be made here?
Paul: Well, there’ll be an agreement. The question will be, will it be before or after the governor weighing these lawsuits to terminate these folks? You know, I think that NYSCOBA has an agreement they want to put forth. It appears, and again, if you don’t have the union, it’s hard. Who ya talking to, right? You have all these factions among the strikers. You don’t necessarily have a group that you’re talking to. So I think that’s probably the biggest issue. Is how do they come back to the union and have the union have the authority to represent them and settle this? Then, we’ll see a settlement.
Interviewer: Yeah. Lots of fallout here to continue covering. Thank you so much, Paul.
Paul: Absolutely.
Interviewer: And for more info covered in our weekly What Are Your Rights segments or to just send us a story idea, head to our website, cbs6albany.com.
