The return of workers signals a possible end to a job walkout that began Feb. 17 and had paralyzed the operations of dozens of correctional facilities.

More than 2,000 prison guards were fired on Monday for not returning to work after a weekslong strike that violated a state law prohibiting strikes by most public employees.

New York fired more than 2,000 prison guards Monday for failing to return to work after a weekslong wildcat strike that crippled the state’s correctional system, but said enough officers had come back on the job to declare the illegal work stoppage over.