水果派AV

"But聽my guys went out," he told 水果派AV, "and I didn't want to abandon my guys."

That decision eventually led to the termination of Rossbach, alongside聽聽鈥� about 130 of which worked at Auburn and Cayuga Correctional Facility in Moravia.听

More than 15,000 officers across New York state participated in the strike, citing understaffing, increased violence against officers and incarcerated individuals, and mandatory overtime. They also set their sights on the 2021聽, or HALT, which limits the use of solitary confinement.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision fired the officers because the strike was prohibited by the聽聽on collective bargaining for state employees. The strike was even condemned by the聽New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, which warned striking union members they聽could face聽lost pay and termination.听

Nearly two months later, the prisons are still on the minds of four fired local correction officers, two from Auburn and two from Cayuga, who spoke recently with 水果派AV.

Along with looking for new employment, they're reflecting on the strike 鈥� and the conditions that caused it.听

鈥榊ou think there are rules to protect you鈥�

According to prison staff lists obtained by 水果派AV, 49 officers at Auburn Correctional Facility were terminated between March 1 and March 13. Another 26 opted to resign over that same period.听

DOCCS told 水果派AV it would not confirm those numbers due to security concerns.

Craig Morgan, a correction officer for 21 years, was one of those fired from Auburn.听

Morgan told 水果派AV he was not in the prison when the strikes began because he was collecting workers' compensation for sciatica he developed from an incident involving an incarcerated individual.

鈥淭he strike blew my mind," he said. "I couldn't believe they actually did it."

Morgan said he attended a rally with a group of striking officers outside Auburn Correctional in late February. That would lead to his termination, he said, as officers who did not report to work even if they were on paid leave or had regular days off would be terminated, according to February emails between DOCCS and prison superintendents that were obtained by 水果派AV.

鈥淚 was due to go back to work and the state ordered me to see a state doctor,鈥� Morgan said. 鈥淭hen they cancelled the appointment and fired me because I was seen (at the rally).鈥�

The state considered striking officers absent without leave,聽costing them pay and their health insurance. The department has said that it warned officers like Morgan of those consequences.

However, he believes his firing was unfair because he was on workers' compensation. Now, he alleges, the state is preventing him from collecting unemployment benefits.

The state Department of Labor told 水果派AV it cannot disclose information about any individual's unemployment claims due to confidentiality laws. It also said unemployment insurance "is only available to individuals who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own," and encouraged those who believe they are being wrongfully denied it to .听

Rossbach told 水果派AV he鈥檚 heard that 鈥渁 lot鈥� of the fired officers were out on workers' compensation.听

鈥淵ou think there are rules to protect you,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut when the government wants them gone, they're gone.鈥�

During the strike, Rossbach took to social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook with videos sharing his grievances against the corrections department, one of which garnered over 1.2 million views.听

鈥淚 tried telling everyone to get their stories out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 saw you crying 鈥� let them see you crying.鈥�

Since his firing, Rossbach has used social media to keep up with other officers who faced the same consequence.听

While he was on the picket line and chose not to go back to work before Gov. Kathy Hochul鈥檚 March 10 deadline, Rossbach said he understands why others opted to go back to work or not to strike at all.听

鈥淪ome people didn't want to be on strike and did what they had to and stayed in for their families,鈥� he said.听

鈥淎 lot of people were just waiting for the union to come to the table. Most of the people went back in because they felt like the union abandoned us.鈥澛�

鈥業 think my lieutenant was surprised too鈥�

Another 77 officers were fired at Cayuga Correctional Facility in Moravia, according to a list obtained by 水果派AV.

One of them was former Sgt. Kenny Meddaugh. Like Morgan, he was out on workers' compensation during the strike.听

However, Meddaugh never participated in the strike, he told 水果派AV. He also said he was never given a warning from DOCCS to return to work.听

鈥淢y lieutenant told me I was all good until April 2,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 got the termination letter from the state three days later. I think my lieutenant was surprised too.鈥澛�

Believing he was fired illegally, Meddaugh has filed a grievance with the state, he said.听

DOCCS declined comment to 水果派AV on his case specifically, but said it is reviewing employee concerns about health care and leave circumstances on a 鈥渃ase-to-case basis.鈥澛�

鈥榃hoever made it has no idea how prison works鈥�

Meddaugh, Rossbach and Morgan each have different experiences of the strike itself, but one of the motives they all mentioned was pushing back on HALT.

Brad Brown, who like Meddaugh was fired from Cayuga after the strike, said the law makes it harder to keep incarcerated individuals safe by limiting the amount of time that violent ones can be isolated.

鈥淭he majority of inmates want to be safe. They want the monsters within the facility to be separated from them,鈥� Brown told 水果派AV.听

鈥淲e don't want them to be raped, we don't want them to be assaulted. They don鈥檛 want that either," he said. 鈥淭he inmates and us are on the same side in most ways. We're a lot closer than people think.鈥澛�

Meddaugh estimated that 85% of inmates "will never cause any issues."聽

Rossbach echoed those thoughts, but added that there are some incarcerated individuals HALT helps.

鈥淭he HALT Act wanted to empower inmates, which isn't necessarily a bad thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it doesn't recognize the fact that there are a significant percentage that are predators. Those predators take advantage of that kind of liberal ideology. It has a big heart, but whoever made it has no idea how prison works.鈥�

Morgan disagreed, however, saying the increased public attention on HALT, and specifically its opponents, made the striking officers look bad.听

鈥淣ever in a million years did I expect that we would become the bad guys and they would be the good guys,鈥� he said.

DOCCS temporarily suspended some aspects of HALT as part of the agreement to end the strike. The act, created to lessen the negative聽psychological, social and physical impacts that prolonged solitary confinement has been shown to have on incarcerated individuals, was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021 and took effect the following year.听

"It was like I had two different careers," Morgan said. "Before HALT, and after HALT."聽

鈥業t tells everybody you better get out'

Another motive for the strike was increasing violence in New York state prisons.听

The rate of prison assaults rose to their highest ever聽in 2024,聽and have almost doubled since 2015.听

Morgan believes those increases can be traced back to HALT. After it took effect, he said, officers could only respond聽to violent incidents with tickets.

鈥淏efore HALT, we鈥檇 have a conversation with the inmate, then we frisk him, cuff him and take care of it,鈥� Morgan said. 鈥淣ow we can鈥檛 do any of that.鈥�

Rossbach believes another contributing factor to that violence is a demoralized workforce that feels abandoned.听

鈥淲e knew it was unsafe when we took our jobs,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut now our employers don't have our backs and the Legislature left us alone too.鈥�

Meddaugh said HALT took away serious repercussions for incidents like the one that injured him.听

鈥淚 remember years ago, a guy hit someone over the head with a chair and got two years box time,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow he鈥檇 only get 15 days, and if he鈥檚 under 22 or over 55 he can't get special housing time at all.鈥澛�

Along with that violence, exposure to drugs has been another increasing risk, Meddaugh said. He believes it comes into facilities like Cayuga Correctional through the mail.听

"The conditions just keep getting worse. It鈥檚 snowballing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t tells everybody you better get out.鈥澛�

鈥業 wouldn't go back even if they wanted me鈥�

Following the strike, Hochul signed an executive order preventing fired officers from getting state and local government jobs. That order has since expired, but the officers who spoke to 水果派AV said they still haven't decided what they鈥檒l do next. Rossbach said he is trying to find another state job, but is taking time away to care for an aging family member.听

鈥淚 have seven years 'til retirement,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just want to grind out my last six years and be done.鈥澛�

The timeline is a bit different for Meddaugh, who said he had three weeks until retirement when DOCCS terminated him.听

鈥淚 got no money coming in,鈥� he said. 鈥淏asically, I'm waiting for our union lawyers to go through our grievance process.鈥�

Morgan said it hasn't been easy being out of work, but he has been able to get by with injury settlements and veteran benefits.听

鈥淚n the last six months, I lost my wife, my job and my mother died. But I'm finding happiness being away from there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wouldn't go back even if they wanted me.鈥�