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Dave Turner |
Prison officers back strike threat
PRISON officers at Pentonville voted to join a threatened national strike this week, claiming they are fed up having to do society’s “dirty work” for low wages and in appalling conditions.
Dave Turner, local branch secretary of the Prison Officers Association, warned that staff might be forced into industrial action unless a two per cent pay rise offer was improved.
He claimed that in one area of the antiquated Victorian prison there are just two officers to 100 prisoners. that on average there are three assaults a week and conditions are made worse by the prison having to accept high numbers of mental health patients.
In an exclusive interview with the Tribune, Mr Turner, a prison officer at Pentonville for 27 years, said that for the first time he was witnessing women officers being attacked by male inmates.
But he applauded the work of the prison’s new governor, Nick Leader, who arrived in March and has managed to improve conditions for officers. “The three years prior to the arrival of Mr Leader were absolute purgatory,” Mr Turner said. “The new governor has come with a more open agenda, where he wants to talk and consult with the staff.”
Mr Leader is reviewing the running of the overcrowded prison, where two inmates share a cell built originally for one.
Mr Turner added: “He’s introduced little things. Like if someone does good work they get a letter of recognition rather a letter only when they make a mistake.”
But officers are appalled that, instead of giving them an independent pay review, the Government is threatening to make £60 million cuts to the service over three years, with the likelihood of a two per cent pay increase – less than inflation.
The cost of living, low wages and conditions make it very difficult to recruit good staff, Mr Turner claimed
“Because people can’t afford to live locally, I have staff travelling in from Southend, Canterbury and Bedford,” he said. “By the time they finish at night and get home they are exhausted. And then they have got to be back by 7.30am the following day.
“In a perfect world if we were fully staffed we could cope. But on average most staff are owed anything from between three days and two-and-a-half weeks time off. If they all invoked their rights to take that time we would have to shut shop.”
He maintained that mental health patients should not be in prison. “We are not trained to deal with them,” Mr Turner said.
Most prisoners were very demanding, he added, but with a small staff not a lot could be done to help them.
“Then the prisoner becomes agitated and he has to take his frustrations out,” Mr Turner said. “That’s when we get assaults on staff. |
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