New York, NY — Patrick Ferraiuolo, who for the last 15 years was the president of the Correction Captains Association, and served 43 years with the city’s Department of Correction, has retired as of Dec. 31. His current title is now Active and Retired Benefits Consultant. It is an important role in itself, and he is the perfect one to fill it, having years of knowledge of what the members currently need.
But how his experience and understanding has informed what he does now, as told in his own words, are priceless. That is why LaborPress is so privileged to have conducted this exclusive interview.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, his experience with unions began early on. His father, a Longshoreman, was involved in the Longshoreman’s Association and close with Anthony Scotto, union leader of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1814 who rose to unprecedented heights of power in diverse political circles, and who passed away in 2021. “My father was a Shop Steward for him down the docks,” says Ferraiuolo. “So I grew up pro-union from very, very young. Always heard my father talk about how powerful that union was and they were and still are, but back then, they were super super powerful. They are global. They are not Teamsters. They are their own separate entity. My dad would say things like ‘Men and women have lost their lives for the union and fighting for the right to protect peoples’ rights and wages and heath benefits etc. so yes, it started very young.”
“As for me, I didn’t initially know my career path. My father would say, ‘Take a trade – be an electrician, a carpenter, etc. For me, college really wasn’t in my future. Back then, it didn’t have the emphasis it has today. With just a high school diploma, you could get a decent job, or get a civil service job.”
So Ferraiuolo began taking a slew of civil service tests, from the NYPD to Transit Authority Bus Driver, except, he says, the fire department. He turned down Transit Police, which had a rep for being a very dangerous job, the work being down in the subways without functional radios.
Then he got a call from Corrections, and his whole life changed. He knew it would be difficult, but the lure of a civil service job and good benefits made him make the move.
At the Academy, things began to happen that would be hallmarks of his future career. Even as a young man in his early 20’s, a rookie Cadet Corrections Officer, other classmates sought him out as a mentor, asking him to lead as they looked for direction. Ferraiuolo was confused initially, asking himself, “Do they realize I started at the same time as they did?”
With candor, and to shed some light on the matter, he shares that he has “always been someone who was confident.” He adds, “I don’t pat myself on the back, but the higher ups took me aside and said, “’You have leadership qualities.’”
He says that part of what contributed to that confidence in Corrections was growing up in a very diverse area in East Flatbush in Brooklyn, adding that unfortunately, most inmates were people of color and in fact, sadly, two such inmates were people he had gone to school with.
So he didn’t feel a sense of culture shock. “I didn’t feel I was better than the inmates, like others did.”
His entry into the world of unions is particularly interesting. “As I was leaving the Academy to go into the first command, I was told by the Academy instructors that they were making me the delegate for the Columbian Association (Italian).”
There were other Associations representing other ethnicities, and yet Ferraiuolo began to wonder why there wasn’t just one group, and why the bigger picture might be that the presence of different groups might ultimately lead to division – and that there must be a better way to unify and thus gain more power. “That’s when I realized – ‘light bulb’ there is – it’s the union. I shouldn’t be working here – I should be working with the union!’”
In 1987 he earned his promotion to captain; he was elected a union delegate and then in 1999 the CCA’s sergeant-at-arms, earning a spot on the union’s executive board. He became first vice president, under President Ronald W. Whitfield.
Ferraiuolo attained the rank of president of the union in April 2009, after then-union President Ronald W. Whitfield retired. It was something he had wanted since he had originally joined the union. Elected to four full terms in 2011, he won reelection unopposed each time in 2015, 2019, and again earlier this year.
Ferraiuolo, over his many years in the system, has seen many changes. Initially, he says those who oversaw the inmates were mature, older men, “different generations, veterans, many Black men from the South, PD…There was violence, but nothing like it is today.” He deplores the present chaos, and compares it to a time when CO’s were respected. “On Rikers,” he says, “the majority just did their time, or went to court to resolve their cases.” He says that bail reform is a major contributor to the difference between then and now: “Today, you have to be really bad, done something really horrific, to still be in jail with bail, or to be released on your own recognizance. So those in jail don’t think twice about assaulting CO staff. Today, there are also no punitive sanctions, which we desperately need.” Such sanctions for problematic inmates are highly controversial.
He bemoans, among other changes, what he says are outside agencies that “treat the CO’s like inmates”, and also the lack of support by superior officers, as there had been in the past. Federal Receivership also currently looms large, due to a judge’s ruling. Ferraiuolo says that such a move wouldn’t stop the high rate of violence against CO’s in the jails. There is also concern that a takeover would dilute the DOC’s union’s power in various significant ways.
In his current position of Active and Retired Benefits Consultant, Ferraiuolo can give back in a way that shows how much he still cares, and use the relationships he has developed over the years to address the crucial needs of the members in the health and welfare fields.
“As of January 1st I deal with any kind of issues with benefits. I work with the Trustees when it comes to health and welfare, drug prescriptions, eyeglasses, dental – I help the new president with all of those issues. For example, I’m in a drugstore with a very sick son; they tell me he is not covered by the union. I’ve been in the union since 1990; I have a certain relationship with the CEO of Emblem Health or Blue Cross/Blue Shield, vendors, eyeglass companies, etc. I call the head of Emblem Health, say I need this today – for the daughter of a Captain who has breast cancer and needs an MRI and Pet Scan approved That Day. He says okay I’ll make a note of it. I say ‘you don’t understand. I need it now.’ And it gets done’”.
He also made sure a rare almost blind boy was able to receive a sight-restoring pair of eyeglasses, even finding out the research needed to prove that although the percentages of such a disease that caused the condition was very low, it was still measurable, and thus needed treatment. Ferraiuolo put himself out there, taking on, among other procedural steps, work that included overseeing an appeals process where he attended a Board of Trustees meeting, and recommending approval of the specialized glasses the boy needed in order to improve his eyesight. The Trustees concurred, and you have to believe it was because of all Ferraiuolo had done.
So, in these cases and in so many others, past and present, Ferraiuolo has, through his unwavering lifelong desire to help others, shown what real success is all about.
