ON-AIR SEGMENT: Anthony Picente says Governor Hochul has backed off from certain aspects on executive order in prohibiting fired prison guards from working for other forms of government

UTICA- In the wake of terminating some 2,000 prison guards who refused to go back to work once a statewide strike was declared over, New York Governor Kathy Hochul followed up by issuing an executive order that completely barred them from ever occupying any other form of state employment, but it appears that she has backed down, at-least on certain aspects.

Sheriffs Offices across our general North Country region have witnessed an uptick of employment applications, particularity from those who were fired or walked away from the State Prison system and there was language in the Governor's order that sparked debate on whether or not fired CO's could even apply at the county level.

For context, a statewide prison guard strike started last month, a move that violated the Taylor Law, which is why the strike was condemned by state authorities. 

Still, the guards on strike said they wanted safer working conditions and specifically, they wanted a total scrap of New York's HALT Act. 

After several negotiation attempts, enough guards went back to work for the state to declare the strike over, but some 2,000 refused to go back and were subsequently terminated. 

Once Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente learned of the confusion over hiring fired CO's at a county level of government, he held a press conference and followed up with subsequent legal action.

On Monday, Picente confirmed initial reports from the Times Union Newspaper that the Governor had retreated from certain parts of the order:

In a previous report, the governor clarified that certain aspects of that executive order having to do with local jobs expire after 30 days, but she encouraged local governments to keep in mind the illegal nature of the strike.

“They’re only in effect until April 9,” the governor said of the restrictions on local hiring.

“If these people want to go work for local law enforcement that’s their prerogative, but I would remind everybody I’d be very cautious because these individuals had a responsibility to protect the public and the incarcerated population and they walked off the job for 22 days many of them.”

Listen to our latest on-air coverage from Tuesday, March 25, 2025:

Oneida County.gov images.