In defiance of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive order barring correction officers who were fired for striking from being hired by local municipalities unless they go through a specific program, Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin says he plans to fill correction officer openings with those who had been fired in the wake of the officers’ wildcat strike across New York prisons.
In a post on social media Friday, McLaughlin said he would swear in three new correction officers Monday, with plans to bring in 20 more. The three officers sworn in Monday weren’t among the correction officers terminated by the state this month, but did resign during the strike, according to McLaughlin.
The county executive, a Republican, claimed correction officers were “wrongly terminated by a very vindictive and vicious” Hochul, stating that he was ignoring the executive order…