A Bit of History Repeating

 By Rachel Dworkin, Archivist

Since February 17^th, prison guards across New York State, including at Elmira Correctional, have been engaged in an illegal wildcat strike in an effort to improve working conditions. They are demanding that the state increase pay, address chronic understaffing, and repeal the HALT Act, which banned the use of long-term solitary confinement for difficult prisoners. Under the New York’s Public Employees Fair Employment Act (1967), more commonly known as the Taylor Law, public employees are prohibited from striking. Despite the penalties associated with the law, that hasn’t stopped the guards. It didn’t stop them in 1979 either.

On April 18, 1979, union contract negotiations broke down and guards across the state walked off the job. Striker’s demands included higher pay and a roll-back of the post-Attica Riot prison reforms. The strike involved approximately 7,000 of the state’s 8,500 prison guards, as well as 600 guards at other state buildings and institutions. Among them were the guards from Elmira Correctional and the Elmira Psychiatric Center. In addition to the 385 Elmira corrections officers who went on strike, an almost equal number of prison support staff including clerical workers, teachers, specialists, and others refused to cross the picket line. Prison chaplain Rev. John H. Valk elected to remain at his post inside the prison for over a week in order to see to the spiritual needs of the prisoners while still supporting the strikers.

As with today, the governor was forced to call out the National Guard to take over the management of the prisons at a cost of approximately $400,000 a day. The Guardsmen who filled in at Elmira under the command of Major Richard S. Fidurski were primarily drawn from units based out of Buffalo, Binghamton, and Rochester. None had any experience working in prisons and struggled to make things work. All of them found their regularly scheduled lives disrupted. Two Guardsmen from Co. D, 102 Medical Battalion, Pfc. Levi Coram and Spec. 5 Candice Worthey, ended up having to hold their wedding in the prison’s chapel on May 1, 1979 and taking 24-hours leave for a quick honeymoon in Syracuse before resuming their duties.

Mr. and Mrs. Coram on the way to their honeymoon, May 1, 1979

 

Life inside the prison changed with the guards on strike. All visitation was halted. Parolees had their releases delayed. Prisoners were given more time to hang out on their block outside their cells. They had to eat inside their cells though, as there weren’t enough Guardsmen to manage the mess halls. According to an April 29 Star-Gazette article, inmates seemed to prefer the Guardsmen. “In almost six years, I haven’t been treated so good as I have in the last seven days,” claimed inmate Robert Cmor. Conditions at prisons across the state currently under the supervision of the National Guard vary wildly. Some places are operating almost normally. In others, prisoners are under 24-hour lockdown without showers or medical care. At least four prisoners have died.

On the picket line, the strikers threw rocks, eggs, and insults at National Guardsmen and at one point attempted to block a convoy from entering. Chemung County Sheriff’s deputies and officers from the Elmira and State police worked overtime to help keep peace at the prison gates. Meanwhile, many of the strikers were struggling financially. The strike started at the end of the pay period and strikers had yet to receive their last checks. They were eligible for food stamps, but the Chemung County Department of Social Services refused to offer emergency relief and instead insisted they undergo the usual application process which wouldn’t get them aid until mid-June. 

Sheriff's deputies clear a path through the picket line for National Guard convoy, April 27, 1979

 

Strikers outside Elmira Correctional, April 27, 1979

As the strike dragged on, more and more of the support staff made the decision to cross the picket line to return to work. Across the state, tensions were high between those who chose to strike and those who stayed on the job. The several families of non-striking workers were threatened and one man’s dogs were killed. Nothing like that was going on here, but at least one striking guard did attempt to incite a riot among the prisoners. Superintendent John B. Wilmot, who remained at his post throughout the strike, told reporters he was hurt and disappointed by the 64 non-union supervisors and clerical staff who refused to work.

The strike was finally settled on May 4, 1979 with workers returning to work at midnight. In the end, the strikers won a 7% pay boost the first year and raises of between 3.5-7% the second and third years depending on cost of living. Interestingly, this was the same deal they had rejected before the strike, but they did win a few other things. Guards also won special “training” bonuses of $300 the first year and $200 the next. The state also agreed to make seniority the top factor in determining promotions and begin payouts for on-the-job injuries on the day of the injury and not 30 days later as had previously been the case. The local union rejected the deal by a three-to-one margin, but still returned to work anyway. For violations of the Taylor Law, the union was fined $2.5 million and individual guards lost an average of $1,550 in pay. It was a Pyrrhic victory at best. The union’s demands for the repeal of prison reform were soundly rejected.

On February 27, 2025, a tentative agreement in the current strike was announced but ultimately rejected by the strikers. The state has begun firing some guards and plans to start suspending the health insurance of thousands more. It’s unclear at this point how things will end, but someone at this historical society will probably be writing about it 45 years from now.

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If you were involved in the 1979 strike or have signs, photos or other material associated with it, please contact me at (607) 734-4167 ex 207 or archivist@chemungvalleymuseum.org. If you have pictures of the current strike, I’d love to hear from you as well.