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July 9, 2025: <\/strong>PEF, DOCCS and the NYS Office of Employee Relations signed a pair of MOAs aimed at improving retention and increasing recruitment at DOCCS facilities. The first MOA pays all civilian DOCCS employees in titles between SG-5 and SG-23 who work in facilities an additional $1 differential for the first 40 hours of their regular work schedule or while on leave at full pay. The agreement runs through April 1, 2026. Read the full MOA. <\/a><\/p>\n The second MOA establishes a Referral Bonus Program that provides a $1,500 bonus payment to current DOCCS employees who refer a non-DOCCS employee to become a Corrections Officer, following their successful graduation from the Corrections Academy. Another $1,500 will be paid when the new Corrections Officer completes the 52-week probationary period. The bonus program is active through March 31, 2026. Read the full MOA<\/a>.<\/p>\n May 8, 2025: <\/strong>New York State announced it will NOT extend the 2.5 times overtime agreement that runs through May 9, 2025. We are seeking clarification on what happens to an overtime shift that starts on May 9 and extends through May 10 and will provide further information when received. PEF negotiated an agreement for the additional overtime rate soon after the Corrections’ Officers strike began in February. We argued then that it was essential to help the State meet its staffing needs and provide an additional reward for the sacrifice that so many of you are making to operate these severely understaffed correctional facilities. We believe those same arguments hold true today, but the Office of Employee Relations has nonetheless decided to end the 2.5x overtime agreement. The Memorandum of Agreement regarding Health & Safety that PEF negotiated during the strike remains in effect.<\/p>\n April 7, 2025: <\/strong>Gov. Kathy Hochul and DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello extended the 2.5x overtime agreement for all eligible and ineligible DOCCS employees through May 9. Read the full memo here<\/a>.<\/p>\n March 17, 2025: <\/strong>A new MOA was signed by PEF President Spence and the Office of Employee Relations\u00a0 authorizing the carry-over of vacation accruals in excess of 40 days past the April 1, 2025, contractual deadline. The deadline to use those excess vacation days for PEF members who worked during the strike was extended to April 1, 2026, and later to April 1, 2027. Read the full MOA here<\/a>.<\/p>\n March 13, 2025:<\/strong> The Memorandums of Agreement signed by PEF and the Governor which provide an overtime rate of 2.5 times a members\u2019 regular rate of pay, restricts PEF-represented DOCCS staff from coming into contact with incarcerated individuals without a trained security escort, provide relief to Parole Officers who were previously assigned duties inside prisons and gives PEF-represented employees personal alarms, has been extended to April 9 due to a declaration of emergency from Governor Kathy Hochul. Consistent with Executive Orders on the State of Emergency these MOAs will now expire no earlier than April 9, 2025.<\/p>\n March 12, 2025:<\/strong> If you missed the Telephone Town Hall held by PEF President Wayne Spence updating members on the crisis, you can watch it below.<\/span><\/p>\n DOCCS Town Hall<\/a><\/p>\n March 10, 2025:\u00a0<\/strong> PEF President Wayne Spence will host a Telephone Town Hall for PEF members who work at DOCCS and OMH-CBO on Wed, March 12, at 6 p.m. Your personal phone will be auto-dialed at that time, but if it is not, you call in directly at (800) 263-5977. The call will be brief — 30 minutes or less — and provide the latest information on the end of the corrections officers’ strike and what the union expects to happen next.<\/p>\n March 7, 2025: <\/strong>PEF reached a verbal agreement with DOCCS that absolutely no parole<\/i><\/b>\u00a0staff will be called or assigned to work or will be on-call this weekend (March 8 & 9, 2025). We will continue conversations next week over the equitable and reasonable distribution of on-call and overtime assignments. In the meantime, PEF parole officers, please enjoy a much-needed and well-deserved weekend off!\u00a0 Thank you for everything you\u2019ve done throughout this crisis.\u00a0 If you are called over the weekend, please contact PEF Director of Statewide Field Services at\u00a0Katherine.Vorwald@pef.org<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n PEF-Represented Family Members Impacted by Loss of Insurance Due to the Corrections Officer Strike:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n We have heard reports from PEF members who have lost their health insurance because their spouse\/domestic partner was\/is a Corrections Officer (CO) who had their insurance terminated effective February 17 because of the strike.\u00a0 If you are in this situation, please note that the termination of your spouse\/domestic partner\u2019s health insurance is \u201ca\u00a0qualifying event<\/em>\u201d entitling you, as long as you are otherwise eligible, to enroll or change your enrollment in NYSHIP immediately\u00a0without a waiting period<\/em>. The enrollment may be individual or family, including the CO spouse\/domestic partner. To enroll you must complete the\u00a0PS-404 Form<\/a> and submit it directly to your Agency Health Benefits Administrator for processing.\u00a0 You will need documentation of the termination of the family member\u2019s health insurance. If you need assistance with the enrollment, please contact the PEF Health Benefits Team at\u00a0healthbenefits@pef.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n ____________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n March 6, 2025:<\/strong> Read the message<\/a> that was sent from PEF President Spence via email to DOCCS\/OMH-CBO members. All members are encouraged to fill out this form<\/a> to report their current working conditions so PEF can continue advocating for improvements to the terms and conditions of the work you’re doing as well as your health and safety. ____________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n Feb. 25, 2023<\/strong>: PEF signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the State providing a 2.5 times OT rate to OMH members who work in Corrections Based Operations at facilities. (Read the MOA here<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ____________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n Feb. 23, 2025<\/strong>: PEF signed two Memorandums of Agreement with New York State. They accomplished two primary goals:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese are dangerous jobs in the best of circumstances and PEF members, without the proper training, should not be doing things like moving incarcerated individuals around inside facilities or delivering food to dormitories without security escorts,\u201d\u00a0 said PEF President Wayne Spence. \u201cArmed with the PESH complaints and affidavits many members submitted, the PEF Legal Department, with the assistance of attorney Mark Richard and his firm, devised a legal strategy in advance and were prepared to file suit if negotiations were not productive.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe explained to members and leaders their rights to avoid being placed in unsafe environments and hosted a statewide Zoom meeting for impacted members,\u201d said PEF President Wayne Spence. \u201cAs soon as we heard about it, our first priority was the health and safety of our members. These are dangerous jobs in the best of circumstances and PEF members, without the proper training, should not be doing things like moving incarcerated individuals around inside facilities or delivering food to dormitories without security escorts.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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\nFeb. 17, 2025<\/strong>: On President\u2019s Day, media outlets began reporting corrections officers (COs) at several statewide facilities were engaging in work stoppages in protest of working conditions and short staffing. Later that same day, PEF sent an email to all members at DOCCS and Corrections Based Operations associated with OMH, informing them about their rights, if they were asked to report to a facility to do work typically performed by COs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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