Tory austerity triggered a crisis in our jails and only a decisive break from the past can turn this around, explains STEVE GILLAN

Stripped of their industrial muscle and left at the mercy of ministers and management, prison officers have been pushed way beyond breaking point, warns STEVE GILLAN

We can take inspiration from our forebears and win the repeal of anti-worker legislation and bring about fair pay and decent public services for all, says STEVE GILLAN

The pressure is now on the government to deliver its promises, and that pressure is not just from the unions, but from a working class that will look to the right if things under Labour don’t markedly improve, writes STEVE GILLAN

Prisons should be a place for rehabilitation that keep everyone inside them safe — instead, they are little more than crowded warehouses, chronically underfunded and their staff dangerously overworked, writes STEVE GILLAN

STEVE GILLAN explains why the POA is calling for a royal commission, with a wide range of voices, on the desperate state of our prisons system

The rich cannot be allowed to dictate the terms of our impoverishment — the Martyrs stood up against injustice and so must we, writes Prison Officers’ Association general secretary STEVE GILLAN

Trades union councils promote working-class solidarity in local communities. STEVE GILLAN explains why all trade unions should be affiliating at local level and playing an active part promoting at national and regional levels throughout Britain and Northern Ireland

At the start of the Prison Officers Association annual conference in Eastbourne, general secretary STEVE GILLAN reflects on changing attitudes to what is happening behind those high walls

STEVE GILLAN explains why critics who say prison officers can’t be trusted with the new self-defence spray 'Pava' should try walking in the shoes of his members

STEVE GILLAN previews the POA motions that will be up for debate at congress