UK Prison Officers on strike

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[popinjay]

Good for them.

*honks horn*

[faceless]

George Galloway and Respect supports POA strike action
29/08/2007
www.respectcoalition.org/?ite=1543

The Prison Officers Association (POA), representing staff from across the prison service, have staged a 24-hour strike over pay and conditions starting this morning, the first in its 68-year history. The POA has 28,000 members in England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice has been granted an injunction to stop the strike, but the POA is expected to ignore the order to return to work, defending the outcome of a national ballot in August, which found that 87% of members endorsed industrial action, including a strike.

It was the New Labour government that promised to repeal a ban on strike action among prison officers in 1997, only to sign a voluntary agreement in 2001 in which the POA was to promise not to strike. Now, amidst a pay offer of 2.5% in two stages, which like the pay offer for nurses and postal workers is actually a pay cut in comparison to inflation figures, the POA has decided that strike action is necessary.

While prison officers play a vital role in ensuring the secure running of jails, successive governments have failed to recognise this, and relations between the Prison Service and the POA have been difficult. Issues of contention have included the private prisons agenda and overcrowding, but the main dispute has been over pay. Auxillary staff start at £12,000, and the average prison officer starts at £17,700. No doubt they have taken some of their inspiration from the striking postal workers, who have forced Royal Mail management to negotiate a fairer deal.

George Galloway said, "The POA and its members have my full support. I utterly condemn the injunction issued against the union, and Jack Straw should hang his head in shame for seeking it. Prison service management and the government ought to know that sympathy for the POA over the denial of union rights goes way beyond the trade union movement. The government is responsible for this action, and any consequences that flow from it, and no one else. This action is taking place on the day when news breaks of an ever growing bonanza in the boardroom. Anger among public sector workers over Gordon Brown's pay curbs, which amount to a cut, is growing.

"The prison officers' union has resisted the obscene privatisation of the service and has also championed calls for providing the staff, resources and training to ensure rehabilitation rather than tabloid-driven retribution. This government, in caving in to that tabloid pressure, is responsible for record prison overcrowding, which is damaging to prisoners and staff as well as doing nothing to tackle crime and its causes.

"Everyone should support the POA in this battle, which the government has in its power to avert. In particular, I believe all public sector workers and their unions have an immediate interest in standing together and acting together to break Brown's pay freeze and ensure decent pay for all. In taking action despite the unjust anti-union laws and in refusing to cave in, the prison officers union has set an example for the entire labour movement. Everyone must rally to their side.

"Respect opposes the Tory anti-union laws, which New Labour has reinforced. Every union has a policy to have them repealed, as does the TUC. Now's the time to act on that policy."

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[SpursFan1902]

Scary though....the inmates running the prisons. I hope that they get what they want so that the prisons are looked after.

[Mandy]

Interesting that when someone makes millions in the city, they say that is the fruits of free market capitalism.

When a group tries to exert it's main/only negotiating power of striking, the government is quick to resort to the courts to effectively force servitude. It is slavery when a person is forced to work.

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[Mandy]

Not enough prison cells ..

Not enough prison officers ..

Not enough policemen ..

Not enough soldiers ..

New Labour's legacy.

[popinjay]

[Mandy]

BBC flash : POA strike is on hold due to further negotiation rounds

Regarding soldiers, they should be defending British borders (e.g. against illegal gun and drug smuggling).

Currently, it is the law abiding citizens who are penalized by not being able to defend themselves.

[popinjay]

Police could be (are they not already?) used for stopping gun/drug smuggling. Not that I particularly care about drug smuggling.