Latest editorial
A member of prison staff, November 9, 2018
THE prison officers’ union has warned against “political posturing” by parties in the run-up to the general amid a crisis in Britain’s jails.
Labour condemned the deepening crisis in the prison and probation service today, but said nothing about what the party would do about it if elected to government.
The party stated that the amount of time taken off sick in 2023 by prison and probation officers for mental health reasons totalled the equivalent of 774 years.
Our members face serious violence, crumbling workplaces and exposure to dangerous drugs — it is outrageous we still cannot legally use our industrial muscle to fight back and defend ourselves, writes STEVE GILLAN
MARK FAIRHURST highlights the main issues facing officers in a long neglected service, and raised by front-line delegates at POA conference last week, including understaffing, violence, bullying and the ongoing denial of workers’ right to strike