Corrections officers vote to continue strike action with seven SA prisons in lock down
Corrections officers have voted to continue their indefinite strike that has seen seven prisons go into lockdown over a pay dispute and spate of vicious assaults.
Corrections officers across seven of South Australia’s jails have voted to continue strike action that has plunged the state’s prisons into lockdown.
Hundreds of guards gathered outside Yatala Labour Prison to protest against increased workloads and low wages early on Tuesday morning.
The striking officers, by show of hands, voted unanimously to continue the strike action through Tuesday, with the possibility of extension if a deal with the government is not reached.
Many were holding Public Service Association flags and chanting “shame” at the mention of Corrections Department chief executive David Brown.
Yatala correctional officer and PSA liaison Craig Bates said it was “very frustrating” to have to continue the lockdown for a second day.
“There was a thought that perhaps we’d get an offer from the government yesterday,” he said.
“That didn’t happen, and frankly our correctional officers are fired up even more as a result.”
Correctional officer Dale Atkinson told The Advertiser he and his wife, who also works in corrections, had to rely on family assistance to be able to afford a home, after their attempts to secure a mortgage were unsuccessful due to their low salary.
Mr Atkinson, who has worked for the corrections department for nearly 16 years as part of the dog squad, said assaults and the presence of drugs and weapons in prisons were at an “all time high”, something he attributed to low staff numbers.
“Across the state we’re all feeling exactly the same pressures,” he said.
Mr Atkinson said he’d never seen a strike action like this one in his time in corrections.
“For the whole state to walk out, it’s pretty dire.”
While Mr Atkinson said he had not personally been assaulted, many of his colleagues had been.
“We get verbal threats and all that type of stuff, that comes every day.”
Addressing the striking officers outside Yatala on Tuesday, Mr Bates said that correctional officers across the state had been “hounding” the PSA to continue the strike action for longer.
“If the government wants the prisons to run properly, they need to come back with a real offer that respects correctional officers,” he said.
“This government better realise that they’re on notice.”
The state goverment said it was committed to a real wage increase above inflation.
“The government’s most recent offer to the PSA is significantly more generous than the deal they struck with the Marshall Liberal Government,” a spokesman said.
“Despite only offering only 1.5 per cent wage increases, we did not see the PSA take same kind of industrial action.
“The PSA’s demand for a 20% wage rise over only 18 months is not consistent with responsible budget management and is significantly out of step with the wage rises most South Australians see in their own workplaces.”
He said protracted lockdowns forced the cancelation of family visits, non-essential medical appointments and court appearances, impacting victims of crime.
“The PSA’s actions stand in stark contrast to other public sector unions which have acted responsibly to minimise the effect of industrial action on people who rely on government services.”
Prisons locked down as officers walk off the job
Seven prisons across the state were forced into lockdown on Monday as fed-up Corrections officers walked off the job over what their union says is an “intolerable crisis in the sector with low pay driving a recruitment emergency which has led to a massive spike in prison assaults.”
More than 2000 prisoners are being confined to their cells in what the union says will be an “indefinite strike” – starting with a 24-hour stoppage – until pay rates are lifted and more officers recruited.
Privately-operated prisons at Mount Gambier and the Adelaide Remand Centre are not affected.
Premier Peter Malinauskas hoped to reach an agreement over a pay deal for prison offers and bring facilities out of lockdown “as quickly as possible”.
He said lockdowns were “not healthy and not ideal” for inmates.
Despite prison officers walking off the job, Mr Malinauskas said facilities had not become dangerous.
“The workplace is not unsafe but we prefer our prison officers being back at work,” he said.
“We are committed to paying our public servants real wage increases into the future.
“We want to pay them wage increases over and above inflation but at the same time we’re committed to fiscal prudence.”
Simmering tensions erupted on Sunday after the alleged vicious bashing of a prisoner at Yatala which resulted in an inmate being rushed to hospital to have metal plates inserted in his face to hold it together.
Public Sector Association officials say the brutal bashing is only the latest in a string of violent incidents in recent months.
They revealed that on November 4 at Yatala a prisoner was belted into unconsciousness in the engineering workshop lunch room leading to a large loss of blood.
Prior to that, according to the PSA, another brutal attack occurred inside Yatala’s Mirnu Unit 1, when nine prisoners attacked a single inmate in a sustained and savage assault that continued even after the victim lost consciousness.
On October 24, the PSA says a female Corrections officer was hospitalised with a broken hand after being attacked by a prisoner wielding a metal pole.
She was injured while disarming the prisoner who had bashed another prisoner who was admitted to hospital with life threatening injuries to the head and neck, and an almost severed finger.
At meetings early on Monday, more than 1000 Corrections officers at prisons from Murray Bridge to Port Lincoln resolved to continue strike action “indefinitely” until the Premier boosts their pay rates and lifts staff numbers.
Stop work meetings were held at Yatala Labour Prison, Port Augusta Prison, Mobilong Prison, Port Lincoln Prison, Cadell Prison and Adelaide Women’s Prison.
Prisons will not even have a skeleton crew of officers left to carry out basic duties, instead senior staff will have to take care of inmates.
The PSA says until further notice, prisons will go into lockdown, leaving the state’s more than 2000 prisoners confined to their cells 24 hours a day.
PSA general secretary Charlotte Watson said Corrections officers “have had enough.”
“Violence in our prisons is a direct result of poor pay and conditions which has led to a recruitment emergency,” Ms Watson said.
“Corrections officers start on $58,000 a year. Why would you work in a prison when you could earn the same amount at Bunnings?
“The last offer we got from the Premier would mean Corrections officers would fall below the safety net award again before the end of the life of the pay deal, that’s not good enough.”
Asked if extended lockdowns were recipes for riots, and would put officers at risk when they returned to work, Ms Watson conceded there could be safety issues but said: “Recipes for riots occur when staff are not paid appropriately which causes significant safety issues.”
The PSA says Corrections officer have received 1 per cent per year for the past six years and now are being offered 10.5 to 12.5 per cent over 18 months, but want more for lower paid workers.
A Correctional Services spokeswoman said: “The Public Service Association is undertaking industrial action across the State’s prison sites which has resulted in a statewide lockdown.
“The industrial action by the PSA was organised prior to Sunday’s alleged assault at Yatala Labour Prison.
“The state government is continuing to negotiate in good faith with the PSA and it is unfortunate the PSA has undertaken this action.”
A government spokesman said: “The state government provided an extra $6.8 million in the last State Budget to improve security in our prisons including for new hi-tech security scanners, new body scanners and cameras with built-in Artificial Intelligence.
“We have made clear our commitment to providing a real wage increase above the current rate of inflation, and that is reflected in the Government’s most recent offer to the PSA.”
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Originally published as Corrections officers vote to continue strike action with seven SA prisons in lock down
