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The National ChairmanDecember 2006
Since becoming National Chairman, along with the National Executive Committee we have steadfastly attempted to remove personality posturing from our business with the Prison Service in England and Wales. The events of the 19th September 2006 and the actions of the Prison Service after our Special Delegates Conference on 7th September 2006, clearly indicate that the efforts of this union to get fair and equitable treatment for the professional men and women working in our overcrowded prisons is at odds to the aims of the Prison Service Board. Industrial Relations will always be a cut and thrust business. The POA, as proven by our members in Scotland can operate inside a successful partnership deal. Such a deal must have investment by all parties and clear commitment by management and unions to operate inside of it. In Scotland the management board have proved to date their wish to operate in this manner. This should be an example to the Prisons Board in England and Wales. In 2003, this union came to the brink of industrial action over the safety of our members in Northern Ireland. In the run up to this dispute the Northern Ireland Prison Service was going through one of the worst industrial relation periods in its history. Today industrial relations in the form of pay negotiations and the possibility of a long term pay award are being negotiated in Northern Ireland. The POA is the same POA as in 2003. The management team in Northern Ireland has totally changed. The POA would ask Government to take note of industrial relations in Scotland and Northern Ireland and ask why this is not mirrored in England and Wales. We are one union, what we ask for, what we demand is that this union is treated fairly and it members treated with respect regardless of which part of the United Kingdom they work. The events of the 19th September 2006 once again prove that the Prison Service management in England and Wales talk of partnership working, but their idea of partnership is one steeped in a trade union employer style of the 1970s. We hope that any changes that come about in the management in the Prison Service in England and Wales are changes that benefit all POA members. The future of good industrial relations in the England and Wales Prison Service is paramount to the public sector retaining its current place as the market leader in Custodial Services. The Home Secretary on taking up office declared that the Home Office was not fit for purpose. The question this union must ask “is the Prison Service management fit for purpose for industrial relations in the twenty first century?” The POA NEC wish to look forward and wish to promote modern industrial relations. This cannot be done whilst the human rights of POA members in England and Wales or any other part of the United Kingdom is under constant attack by the employer. I would ask the Prison Service Board in England and Wales to give a clear commitment that they want good and stable industrial relations with the largest membership trade union in Custodial Services in the United Kingdom. Their actions on the lead up and on the 19th September must never be repeated. The Prison Service Board made a deal with the POA on the future of an independent Pay Review Body. The individuals who bartered and negotiated that deal did not do so in good faith and so found they could not deliver. They would have been better served declaring this rather than gerrymandering, posturing and colluding in an attempt to get this union into Court to prove to their political masters that we are not a union worthy of doing business with. The POA is a free and independent trade union; we wish to be treated as such. If the Prison Service Board in England and Wales is unable to cope with this reality then it may be time to put in place those that are able to promote modern industrial relations and make them a reality as opposed to rhetoric. CONGRATULATIONS |
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