‘It’s toxic in there’: Perfect storm brewing at overcrowded FNQ jail
An inmate punch on that locked down a Far North jail has been blamed on overcrowding and understaffing amid an ongoing pay dispute and uncertainty relating prison guard vaccination.
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A VIOLENT altercation between two inmates that locked down the Lotus Glen Correctional Centre has been blamed on overcrowding and understaffing amid an ongoing pay dispute and uncertainty relating prison guard vaccination.
On Friday morning the Mareeba facility was thrown into lockdown when two inmates came to blows in the prison visits building.
All video link court appearances and virtual private visits were suspended.
A Together Queensland Prison Officers Union member, who asked not to be named, said the incident was compounded by the jail being 13 staff members short on Friday.
“Two prisoners that didn’t get along with each other punched on,” he said.
However, a Corrections spokesman said “no physical altercation took place between two prisoners”.
The corrections officer said an unhealthy culture within the jail was fuelled by worker resentment over wages and crews constantly being understaffed.
“It’s toxic in there at moment,” he said.
“It’s horrible, staff have had enough of the drug use and staff are fighting a losing battle.
“And the centre has 104 notifiable associations, or enemies of each other, that means 10 per cent of the prison population can’t be near each other.”
In November, 100 corrections employees marched in protest of “ridiculous wages and conditions” with the union claiming most front line guards are “paid less than the cleaners”.
The Lotus Glen guard said corrections offers were still waiting for a 2019 enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) to be finalised.
“It will be three years in April and we still have not got our EBA,” he said.
After a meeting with Queensland Corrective Services on Wednesday union members were advised to not provide personal health information relating to vaccinations, given there was no guarantee the department could securely store information.
Under the latest directive all workers in high risk settings must receive a first dose by December 17 and be fully vaccinated by January 23 2022.
The Together Union member said there were many corrections workers at Lotus Glen very “wary” of Covid vaccinations.
“Because we have not got a secure network to store our private medical records,” he said.
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