BR 42/2007
JMcK/JH

To: Branch Chairs and Secretaries
CAFCASS Convenors

Dear Colleague

POA Strike – 29 August 2007

Members of the POA have come out on strike today over a number of concerns including a below inflation pay award.

More information on the strike, which was only called first thing this morning, is contained in the attached article on the Guardian website. Members will be aware that under current legislation the POA have no legal right to take strike action. The action was therefore called at short notice to seek to avoid an injunction.

Napo is fully supportive of the POA in this action, but under current legislation, only union members covered by the relevant industrial action ballot have legal immunity if they don’t cross a picket line. Any other union member who chooses not to cross the picket line will have no legal immunity and this means that such members could face disciplinary action, in addition to losing a day's pay.

Members who may face a POA picket line are therefore advised as follows:-

(i) if possible seek to work in a different venue;
(ii) if it is necessary to cross a picket line, only undertake your normal duties and try not to undertake duties that members on strike would normally do (unless you are formally instructed to do so).

Showing Support

Napo has sent a message of support to POA and branches are also asked to send messages of support to their local POA branches.

Yours sincerely

JUDY McKNIGHT

General Secretary

Prison officers walk out on strike
James Sturcke and agencies
Wednesday August 29, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Thousands of prison officers in England and Wales launched a surprise walkout today that was quickly condemned by the government as "illegal".
The Prison Officers' Association (POA) said the strike action started at 7am and would continue for a minimum of one day.
The strike, which is understood to affect around 140 prisons, is over a below-inflation pay award, poor conditions and low morale among POA members, a spokesman for the organisation said.
"This is about the treatment given to prison officers in England and Wales. We have been given a below-inflation pay award, of 1.9%, for the second year running," the chairman of the POA, Colin Moses, told Sky News.
"My members are receiving below-inflation pay awards when they are being asked to look after the most violent people in society."
Mr Moses said that with the prison population running at 81,000, his members "believed enough is enough". The union said on August 16 that its members were willing to take action after years of below-inflation pay rises.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "We regret this action by the Prison Officers' Association, which is illegal and a breach of the Joint Industrial Relations Procedural Agreement."
Asked who was maintaining security at prisons, she said: "I am sure that is all accounted for."
The minister of justice, Jack Straw, was understood to be in meetings about how to handle the crisis.
The health secretary, Alan Johnson, admitted there would be "ramifications" in terms of security and that the action had "caught everybody by surprise".
The BBC reported that the 1,300 prisoners at London's Wormwood Scrubs were being guarded by eight governors.
"I have been a prison officer for 16 years. When I started there were five officers on every landing of 100 prisoners. Now there are only two," Alan Gaurley, the local POA representative at Wormwood Scrubs, told BBC News 24.
"The landings are huge and they are not safe. A lot of my colleagues have been assaulted. We feel we are undervalued.
"The public is not aware because we work behind closed doors, but as you can see today there is a lot of depth of feeling."
Mr Gaurley said he received a call at 5am from POA leaders informing him of the strike.
Today's action is likely to severely disrupt scheduled court hearings. Vans which collect prisoners on remand at Wormwood Scrubs were turning around at the gates of the prison.
Brian Caton, the general secretary of the POA, said he believed 90% of his members were on strike. He disputed the illegality of the action.
"I believe every officer has human rights and they include the right to withdraw their labour," he said.
The row blew up after a pay review body recommended a rise of 2.5% this year but the government decided it should be staged, with an initial 1.5% rise followed by another 1% six months later. Last year, wardens were awarded a 1.4% pay increase.
Following the government decision, the POA said that it was the last straw for its members and warned ministers morale among prison officers was now at "rock bottom".
Officials said prisons were bursting at the seams and there were more than eight assaults against staff a day. With the prison population rising to record levels, the ratio of prisoners to staff has also risen, causing concern among POA members.
A spokesman said then: "We have requested urgent talks and, if things don't get resolved quickly, prison officers have made it clear they are prepared to take industrial action.
"We realise this would be illegal so we would face the threat of a court injunction. If we decide to take action we realise we would be in breach of the law."
At the POA's annual conference in May, its 28,000 members were balloted on whether they would consider strike action to resolve the pay dispute. Among those who voted, 80% were in favour of a walkout.
Under its contract with government, the union is legally obliged not to undertake any industrial action that would disrupt the HM Prison Service.
The agreement dates to a court ruling in the early 1990s, which found that prison officers had powers and authority similar to those of the police and subsequently could not strike. That was later enshrined in the Criminal Justice Act 1994.
However the union, which has a long-running campaign to restore trade union rights to all its members, has given notice to withdraw from that contract, allowing them the potential to strike.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007