NY prison strike crisis costing taxpayers a whopping $3.5M a day: Hochul admin
New York’s ongoing prison guard strike is costing taxpayers millions of dollars a day, according to Gov.Kathy Hochul’s office.The state is spending upwards of $3.5 million per day to run the prisons after thousands of corrections officers walked off the job more than two weeks ago, according to estimates from Hochul’s budget office.The whopping tab includes paying for the influx of around 6,500 members of the National Guard sent to lockups as backfill for the striking workers — an effort that’s expected to cost the state $78 million per month.It also includes massive overtime benefits for corrections officers who have not been on strike at a rate of two-and-a-half times their normal pay.
This is estimated to be costing the state $24 million a month.The illegal strike stretched into its 17th day Wednesday.Around nine out of 10 guards have participated in the non-union sanctioned action and at least seven inmates have died since it began on Feb.
17, according to state officials.The cost estimates were revealed as part of a lawsuit being pushed by the state against the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association for alleged violations of the Taylor Law, which bars public sector unions from striking.Almost 400 corrections officers have been named in the lawsuit to date.The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has sent notifications to many of the nearly 8,000 workers it believes are still striking, saying they’ve been terminated.
The state also revoked their healthcare benefits on Tuesday.Hochul’s office didn’t reply to a request for comment.On Tuesday, hundreds of striking COs protested in Albany, with their shouts of “hold the line” heard from inside the state Capitol building as Hochul held a press conference.“People can be as noisy as they want and politicize this and do whatever they want, but this is not making this state safer, and that’s my number one priority,” the governor told repor...