Secrecy was the watchword as the Prison Officers’ Association planned yesterday’s lightning strike.

Its leaders had to keep the wraps on their plot, to prevent the Government going to the courts to stop the industrial action.

As a result the POA, which has a total of 21,000 members in England and Wales, informed the majority of its members only when they arrived at prison gates early yesterday.

POA branch secretaries were informed by telephone at 5am of the decision of the union to go on strike.

Under a voluntary deal that replaced Conservative legislation, the POA is legally bound not to encourage or support industrial action which would disrupt the 130 state-run jails in England and Wales. Any hint that it was planning a strike would have resulted in the Government going to court to seek an injunction to prevent the action taking place.

But the dispute has been bubbling for months, with industrial relations steadily deteriorating as inmate numbers have reached record levels.

Earlier this year the Prison Service Pay Review Body looked at wages in jails against what it said was a background of “difficult industrial relations”. The Review Body said: “We have consistently argued that the pay system is outmoded and in urgent need of reform.”

It added that despite the Prison Service and the Prison Officers’ Associa-ton reaching heads of agreement on pay and grading reform in 2005-2006, the deal had foundered. “This had negative implications for industrial relations in the Service”, the Review Body report for 2007 said.

Nor is the POA happy with the Government’s continuing involvement of the private sector in the prison system. Eleven jails are run by the private sector with some of their staff represented by the GMB union.

The Government announced recently that two new jails – at Belmarsh in southeast London and Maghull in Merseyside – will be built and run by the private sector.

Terms and conditions of service

Prison officers in 130 state-run jails

Starting salary £17,744 a year
Average Salary £23,992 a year
Average hours a week 39 hours
Overtime reimbursed through time off

Additional allowances ranging from £1,296 to £1,526 for work involving health care, dog handling, catering instructing, physical education.

Pension Based on final salary, fully index linked, average employee contributions of between 1.5 and 3 per cent.

Holiday 25 to 33 days a year.

Sick Leave Average 13.6 days a year compared with average of 9.9 in public sector and 8.0 in private sector.

Police £20,397 rising to 22,770 after initial training.

Prison custody officers in 11 privately-run jails

Starting salary £15,650 to 17,403
Average salary £17,417 to £18,856
Average hours a week 39 to 42
Overtime reimbursed through time off or paying plain time or time and a half

Allowances not routinely paid in private jails though dog handlers and some officers get extra for chef and PE duties.

Pension Employer contributes 6.2 per cent with an average employee contribution of 3.6 per cent.

Holiday 20 to 23 days a year.

The Prison Service Pay Review Body judged that, taking all pay and benefits into account, prison officers had a 39 per cent lead over their private-sector counterparts in 2006.

Source: Prison Service Pay Review Body/ MCG Consulting.

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