ALBANY — New York State recently announced six correctional facilities will close by March 10, 2022.
The six facilities slated for closure are Downstate Correctional, Moriah Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility, Ogdensburg Correctional Facility, Rochester Correctional Facility, Southport Correctional Facility and Willard Drug Treatment Center.
CSEA represents thousands of civilian support workers in the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). Our union strongly opposed the proposal contained in the 2021-22 state budget to allow for the closure of DOCCS facilities with only 90-days’ notice. The state has assured CSEA that no layoffs are planned as a result of these latest closures, and we will hold them to that commitment.
The union has joined community leaders and some elected officials in voicing concerns about the impact the closures will have on workers, public safety and the communities where these facilities are located.
In a news release, CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan said the union will be watching to ensure workers, communities, and public safety are not harmed over the closures.
“These facilities not only continue to keep our communities safer, but provide good-paying jobs in their communities as a vital economic engine,” Sullivan said. “The state has an obligation to ensure that these workers remain employed, and that the communities they are in not suffer as a result of these closures.”
About 200 CSEA members are expected to be affected by the closures. CSEA is working to minimize any disruption to them and their families from accepting reassignments to other facilities.
— Mark M. Kotzin
