Prisons hit by walkout

Stafford Prison was hit by a 24 hour walkout today as officers made a stand against what they are calling an insulting pay offer.

More than 100 members of the Prison Officers Association joined their national colleagues in the unplanned strike following a ballot two weeks ago.

Jails across the country were in chaos today as thousands of prison workers staged a 24-hour strike over a pay dispute.

The walkout at 7am has been branded illegal by the Government and has hit prisons across the West Midlands, including Featherstone, Blakenhurst, Winson Green, Swinfen Hall and Long Lartin in Worcestershire.

Inmates were being kept locked in cells this morning.

Prisoners due in court were unlikely to be produced, criminals jailed today cannot be accepted and public visits have been cancelled. The Prison Officers Association (POA), which has 20,000 members, blamed the action on the GovernmentÕs failure to pay officers properly.

Chairman Colin Moses told the Express & Star: "We believe the majority of our officers are on strike.

"The Government is still not prepared to pay us properly despite the work we do."

More than 100 members of the Prison Officers Association joined their national colleagues in the unplanned strike following a ballot two weeks ago.

Branch leaders got the call to walk out at 6am this morning and the mood among the Stafford officers gathered outside the Gaol Road entrance was buoyant as they were given strong support from passing motorists blasting their horns and waving.

They group have vowed to fight on and continue the strike if it does not bring swift results but the move has left 675 prisoners in the Victorian category C facility in a precarious position.

They are currently being guarded by 12 members of the prison management team leaving a ratio of 56 inmates to one governor.

Chairman of the Stafford branch of the Prison Officers' Association, 43-year-old Dave Whitaker said the industrial action was a necessity.

He has been in the job for 18 years and is angered by this year's pay offer from the Prison Service: "This strike is a reaction to the derisory pay award given this year, and over previous years.

"And there is also talk that we will be given nothing at all next year.

"The Prison Service has been treating us like second class citizens for years and we haven't even been given increases to match the rate of inflation.

"We feel slapped in the face by this system.

"We get paid between £17,000 and £27,000 dependant on different increments and that is the upper most limit you can go to - it's not good enough.

"The fact they offered us a 2.5 percent deal this year split across half the year with 1.9 now and 0.6 later was the straw that broke the camel's back."

The strike started at 7am and was expected to last 24 hours but it has been criticised as an illegal action which contravenes the Joint Industrial Relations Procedural Agreement between the Prison Service and the Government. That dates back to a court ruling in the early 1990s, which said prison officers had powers and authority similar to those of the police and so they could not strike.

However the union, which has a long-running campaign to restore trade union rights to its members, has given notice to withdraw from that contract, allowing them the potential to strike.

Mr Whitaker said: "We have a clear instruction from a ballot of all 28,000 members of the POA that they want to strike.

"We cannot go on like this, we had to make a stand because we are being given an appalling pay deal and our members wanted to do something about it now."