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Press releasesREF: PR/32/07 DATE: 7th June 2007 To: ALL POLITICAL PRESS RELEASE Meeting in an Attempt to Avert Wholesale Disruption of PrisonsLeaders of the POA met with Rt. Hon Lord Falconer, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice as the looming crisis in prisons mount. Colin Moses National Chairman of the POA recently advised the Prison Service that the POA were withdrawing from the industrial relations agreement (JIRPA). The Prison Service have taken the POA to court on a number of occasions accusing them of disrupting the normal running of the Prison Service by advising their members not to work Contract Supplementary Hours, a policy of the Union. This was an attempt to smash the POA imprison the leaders of the Union because the Prison Service could not get their own way. Following court proceedings, it was agreed by the Prisons Minister and the TUC that discussions between the POA and Prisons Board should take place to try and resolve the dispute and put industrial relations back on a firm footing; unfortunately this did not materialise due to the lack of commitment from the Prison Service. The Judge at recent hearing advised the Prison Service that the courts were not the arena to conduct industrial relations and that they should get their tackle in order before using the courts against the POA. Colin Moses National Chairman of the POA said: “We were please that Lord Falconer met with the POA today because the Prison Service cannot cope and the public will be at risk if the current crisis with regard to prison overcrowding continues. However, I was disappointed to learn that Lord Falconer seems adamant to seek Government approval for the restoration of Section 127 which criminalises Prison Officers and prison staff for standing up for their rights. This Union appeals to the Ministry of Justice to treat the POA fairly and as an equal as all other public sector unions”. When asked what was the relevance of Section 127? Mr Moses replied: “Workers rights are human rights and the professional men and women of the Prison Service should be treated fairly and not criminalised by an unjust anti-trade union piece of legislation. We have been campaigning against the anti-trade union legislation introduced by a Conservative government, which restricted the rights of workers in the Prison Service treating those staff differently from other public sector workers since 1993." He then quoted from the former Home Secretary, David Blunkett’s speech in 2003 at the POA’s Annual Conference when he had laid the order to set aside Section 127. Mr Blunkett said: “...so it is crucial that your work is elevated as part of the stability and order, the security and safety of our society that I seek and that the Government are putting to the top of the domestic agenda here in Britain. So we can spell out what you are doing in a way that makes sense and recognise the professionalism and the changes within the POA, in a way that indicates that this is a two way street, that if, as Colin Moses and Brian Caton have put to me over recent months, the POA are up for being a partner in modernisation, reform and change. Up for having your voice heard but being prepared to hear ours as well, then we need to respond. So today I am laying the order which will remove the requirements under Section 127 restoring your trade union and your rights so that you can see that we are taking seriously the promise that was made in removing Section 127”. He then read a letter dated 6th July 1994 from the now Prime Minister, Tony Blair to the POA General Secretary of the day David Evans, in respect of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill 1994 which read: “As you know, we have strongly opposed the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill on a number of clauses which represented a wholly unwarranted attack on the working rights of prison officers, the status of the Prison Officers Association and unwisely introduced an extension of privatisation of the Prison Service. An incoming Labour Government will want to put this situation right and ensure, once again, that prison officers are treated in the same way and with the same working rights as other public servants, and recognises the status of the Prison Officers Association as an independent Trade Union”. Brian Caton General Secretary of the POA said: “This Union have campaigned for a Ministry of Justice and look forward to working with Lord Falconer, the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office in fighting crime and protecting the public. We look forward to the new prison places but emphasise new prison places and not prison places which simply overcrowd our current prisons which appears to be a possibility on the drive for efficiency. We also look to a review of the sentencing guidelines to ensure only the people who need to be in prison are in prison and that those prisoners with mental health problems are removed from the prison system and cared for by the appropriate professional people, but finally this must be with the POA having had its full trade union rights restored so that it is being treated as an equal and as a professional organisation working within the public service."
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