BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — The strike by corrections officers at prisons across the state is now in its second week.
As the work stoppages continue, I spoke with two former inmates who have differing perspectives on this ongoing crisis.
Last week, corrections officers walked off the job at several facilities in Western New York and throughout the state, citing unsafe working conditions.
However, a possible resolution may be on the horizon. On Monday, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) met with union representatives and a mediator from New York City for the first time. This marks the beginning of three days of negotiations aimed at addressing the concerns of corrections officers and finding a pathway to end the strikes.
Tony Work: A Former Inmate’s Sympathy for Corrections Officers
Tony Work, a Buffalo native, knows firsthand the challenges of serving time in prison.
“It wasn't a fun ride," Work said. "Thank God I'm out, and don't have to experience it anymore.”
Convicted of criminal possession of a weapon, Work spent seven years incarcerated at three state prisons, including the Collins Correctional Facility in Western New York.
"I got a lot of sympathy for the correctional officers," Work said, reflecting on his time in prison. "90% of the inmates—they want to go home, they want to do their time, and they just want to go home. The 10% is where that HALT Act is benefiting, and it's not benefiting the 90% they want to go home.”
While Work empathizes with the officers' plight, he also believes that certain prison policies have made the environment more dangerous. He pointed to the HALT Act (Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement) which limits the use of solitary confinement.
Work, who was released before the law was implemented in 2022, agrees with corrections officers that the law has led to more volatile conditions for staff.
"I could be on the street and assault somebody, and I get arrested and do years in prison. An inmate assaults another inmate or an officer and gets 15 days in the shoe—that's not discipline,” Work explained.
Work didn’t hold back his opinion on the HALT Act, calling it "a disgusting bill that needs to just go. It's got to go."
Valentino Dixon: Advocating for Humanity in Prison Conditions
On the other hand, Valentino Dixon, a Buffalo resident who spent 27 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit after he was wrongfully convicted, holds a different view.
Dixon, who was exonerated in 2018 after serving time at the Attica Correctional Facility, believes the HALT Act is a critical step toward more humane treatment for inmates.
"How would you like for your life to be cut off in your cell, or your water or they cut the heat off? These are the things we had to endure on almost a weekly basis," Dixon shared.
Despite his support for the HALT Act, Dixon acknowledged that the extended shifts of up to 24 hours or more for corrections officers are contributing to a volatile environment, adding pressure on both staff and inmates.
While the prison guards blame inmates for outbreaks of violence, Dixon said it’s the incarcerated that often get abused. But Dixon told me he does agree the extended shifts of 24 hours or more for the guards are creating a tipping point for everyone.
As the strike continues, we will continue to publish all updates we receive on our website here.
