United Workers Union confirms Corrections staff have accepted 3% pay bump

Corrections workers have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a new pay agreement with the NT Government. See what they have secured.

A two year industrial stand-off between prison workers and the government has come to an end, with Corrections workers securing a pay bump, safe staffing requirements and trauma compensation.

United Workers Union NT Secretary Erina Early confirmed that on Tuesday the enterprise bargaining agreement had been approved, with 94.8 per cent of votes in favour of the government’s offer.

Ms Early said the union had accepted the 3 per cent wage increase, which would be backdated for the two years of the enterprise agreement.

The union and government have been involved in heated negotiations since December 2021, when the last agreement ended.

United Workers Union NT Secretary Erina Early confirmed that on Tuesday the enterprise bargaining agreement had been approved. Picture: Floss Adams

Ms Early said there would be a significant increase to a salary allowance, which has their first year pay equate to 9 per cent.

She said the agreement also set safe staffing working numbers for officers — a critical development given the surge in prisoner numbers.

Ms Early said the deal also offered substantial attraction and retention allowance for Alice Springs officers, with payments every year.

The deal also included greater worker compensation improvements above and beyond the legislation.

Ms Early said this was due to the high levels of officer assaults, PTSD, and workplace injuries, and defence leave improvements which recognises shift workers.

The latest Justice Department annual report said there were more than 180 work health safety reports from Corrections in 2021-22, with prison staff making up 70 per cent of open workers compensation claims within the Department.

Amid the prison pay standoff there were multiple staff walk-offs last year at Darwin and Alice Springs, with officers across both sites highlighting “constant” understaffing, resulting in staff burnout and the warehousing of prisoners rather than rehabilitating them.

Amid the prison pay standoff there were multiple staff walk-offs last year at Darwin and Alice Springs. Picture: Lee Robinson

“It’s a stretch to call us a correctional service when all we’re doing really at the moment is racking and stacking,” one Darwin Correctional Centre prison guard said.

Complaints about severe understaffing and safety concerns have marred the Corrections department for years.

For nine of the past 10 years, Territory prisons have been running over capacity, according to the latest Productivity Commission data.

In 2021-22 the Territory was running at 114 per cent over its prison design capacity.

The deal comes as Territory prisons face unprecedented stresses, with prison population records being broken within three days of each other.

On Friday Corrections confirmed it had broken its record for the most people behind bars, with 2063 locked up — about 1 per cent of the Territory population.

By Monday, that record was broken again with 2082 people under Correction’s watch.

The NT government welcomed resolution of the long-running dispute.

Corrections Minister Paul Kirby acknowledged the work of corrections officers during the EBA process.