The National Chairman

April 2007

THE DENIAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR POA MEMBERS

There is a continuing media and political debate into the human rights of offenders in custody. What about the human rights of POA members. The Government by its actions to stage the pay award for POA members in England and Wales for 2007 has mounted a further attack on the human rights of POA members. I say this because would the Government have acted in such a cavalier uncaring manner as to impose a below inflation pay award on thousands of professional men and women and their families for the second year in succession.

Would the Government have acted this way if the POA could demonstrate their disgust and disagreement with such a cowardly despicable award by taking industrial action?

The answer is NO.

The Government act toward us in this fashion because they believe we can do nothing about it. In stripping away the human rights as held by other trade unionists those human rights being the right to withdraw our labour as other affiliated TUC trades unions can under TULCRA (Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992). If we were subject to all elements of TULCRA as other workers we would not be facing the attacks we currently face, on our terms and conditions and our pensions.

There will be those that say we signed our rights to take action away under the JIRPA (Joint Industrial Relations Procedural Agreement). What the POA did was to sign up to JIRPA to rid us of Section 127 of the Criminal Justice Act of 1994, an unjust law that criminalised POA members. The thrust of signing was to gain an Independent Pay Review Body.

On signing up to the JIRPA we said that if that agreement was used to attack this union we would withdraw from it. The JIRPA has been and is being used through the courts to attack this union. The JIRPA is being used to restrain this union from exercising our human rights. The PSPRB is not the independent Pay Review Body we were promised. The PSPRB in awarding a 2.5% pay award believe they are acting independently. The Government’s action in staging that award and the refusal of the Chair of the Pay Review Body to condemn this action yet again proves this body is a government appointed quango.

The first report of the Pay Review Body in 2001 was staged by the same Government. The then Chairman and many members of the PSPRB publicly attacked the Government on its actions. Their contracts were not renewed. Maybe the current board has decided to safeguard their posts. This is the reason that their silence is deafening on the matter of staging - so much for independence.

The POA has stated in the past that we would accept the recommendations of an independent Pay Review Body regardless of the award. That statement can only have any substance when all parties to the Pay Review Body accept the recommendations. The Government actions mean that POA can no longer accept unconditionally any award from a body that has no independence. A body that has no morale substance in safeguarding and rewarding the hard work and diligence of POA members. The current Pay Review Body believes they can change terms and conditions of POA members. That was not the agreed remit of the Pay Review Body. The reason they think this way is because we do not have the human rights of other trade unionists governed by pay review bodies. The Pay Review Body’s as set out by the original Chairman was one not involving the terms and conditions of POA members. It must be remembered that the appointment of the current Pay Review Body members was overseen by a Director of Personnel at the Prison Service who stated “Prison Officers in the public sector were overpaid”

To regain our human rights, we must become a campaigning union. The membership to join together with the NEC and become activists. I would like to applaud those activists featured on the front page of this magazine from Swaleside, Wormwood Scrubs, Reading and Standford Hill who supported the TUC campaign over public sector jobs.

To regain our human rights as held by other trade unionists, we must be prepared to withdraw from the JIRPA and have it replaced with full rights of TULCRA, the same rights held by other affiliated TUC unions.

We must consider if it is our best interests to continue to give both written and oral evidence to a Pay Review Body who in the main ignore the views of the POA and follow a remit to downgrade the working conditions and salaries of public sector POA members, so as to drive down our pensions and conditions to those below that of the private sector.

We must campaign together for a return to free collective bargaining with the ability of the union to operate inside TULCRA, ridding ourselves of this preordained employer appointed Pay Review Body.

The human rights of POA members to have self determination will only be achieved when we have the courage to go to whatever lengths needed including taking our case through the European courts. Withdrawing from JIRPA (If the membership so decide) Withdrawing from giving evidence to the Prison Service Pay Review Body. By giving evidence we legitimise the actions of this totally bias group. There will be those that will argue that by not giving evidence we are in danger of damaging our case. The legitimisation of a body that is hell-bent on imposing below inflation pay awards is one we should not continue with. I would ask each and every member to consider whether they wish to be a member of trades union or a staff association governed by the dictates of an employer that does not value your worth.

CSH (Contract Supplementary Hours)

The Union in the past months has been taken to court with the Prison Service employer in England and Wales claiming that CSH is part of the normal running of the Prison Service. Whilst members are prepared to work CSH we will never have a fully staffed Prison Service so we will never have a safe Prison Service. We will never attain the correct salary package for our labour whilst CSH is being worked.

The Pay Review Body recognises the worth of CSH in the fight to keep our wages down in Paragraph 3.67 of their report – “Turning to ex-gratia payments and other allowances, CSH, Constant watch, Bedwatch and Operation Tornado payments are set at the same rate. We receive no objective evidence to suggest that the Service had difficulty in finding staff to contract for supplementary hours or to undertake watches at the current rate of payment. We recommend therefore that the payments be retained at the current level. We consider that a review of these allowances should be carried out to inform our future reports”.

Congratulations to all POA members who deservedly received their Butler Trust Awards at this year’ awards ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

The POA will continue to support the work of the Butler Trust in recognition for the work done by prison staff.

Colin Moses
National Chairman

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