Brian Lairr on WNYC, there's news this morning of a possible settlement in the illegal strike by workers at several New York State prisons.

This after two people incarcerated at Sing Sing Prison in Westchester

have died during the strike. WNYC, New York State Politics reporter Jimmy Vielkind has been

covering the strike and the underlying issues, and he joins us now. Hi, Jimmy. Welcome back to the

show. Good morning, Brian. Pleasure to be here. For people who haven't been following this,

who's been on strike and where? Well, thousands of corrections officers at prisons around the

state walked off the job starting on President's Day, Monday, February 17th. It started at two

facilities and quickly spread like wildfire throughout the state prison system.

And the striking officers say that they're concerned about safety.

They say that understaffing in their facilities has led to an increase in both incarcerated

assaults and insults by incarcerated people on corrections

officers over time.

And the statistics do bear that out.

And it's been quite a problem.

We've heard from incarcerated people that conditions inside prisons have deteriorated.

We've heard emotional pleas from corrections officers

about how they feel disrespected. And in particular, they point to a 2021 law, the Halt Solitary

Confinement Act, that they say has limited their ability to use solitary confinement as a tool of discipline and has made

it more difficult to maintain order in the prison system.

Are there rising rates of incarcerated people violence?

Has the reduction in solitary confinement added to actual danger for or attacks on officers? Is there any of that that's

verified as true or false? It's impossible or very difficult to have a causal relationship.

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