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Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) speaks during a strike rally in Trafalgar Square, central London. Picture date: Wednesday March 15, 2023.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak called for an end to prison privatisation as he addressed prison officers at their Eastbourne conference today.
“You can’t run prisons or a criminal justice system on the cheap — and you should never run prisons for profit,” the union federation leader said in his address to the POA.
There are currently 15 prisons in the private sector in the UK — with notorious contractors Serco and G4S among firms operating prison services for profit.
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
