Cronin House
245 Church Street
London
N9 9HW
Telephone: 020 8803 0255
Membership enquiries: membership@poauk.org.uk
General enquiries:
general@poauk.org.uk
Prison Officers and those working in Operational Support Grades in England and Wales need an urgent pay rise to help address recruitment and retention problems across the prison estate. The Union representing over 32,000 Prison Officers submitted its pay claim calling for action to address the decline in the real terms value of their pay.
The POA has submitted a pay claim for 6.5% for each of the next two years.
Steve Gillan the General Secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA) said:
“POA members are suffering with the cost of living crisis; housing costs, energy bills and the price of everyday items such as food and clothing are soaring. Meanwhile, our pay has fallen 13.1% behind inflation and we are paid significantly less than Police Officers and Firefighters of a similar grade and experience.
There is also a very big difference in retirement age with Prison Officers having to wait until 68, whereas the Police and Fire Service have a retirement age of 60. These issues are driving a major recruitment and retention crisis with some prisons experiencing attrition rates of up to 40%.
Our members work in one of the most hostile working environments there is, they must be treated with dignity and respect and pay justice is central to that.”
Mark Fairhurst, National Chair of the POA added:
“Prison Officers and Operational Support Grade staff are highly skilled workers who operate in a unique and dangerous setting. Prisons are overcrowded and under-staffed, with the levels of violence, self-harm and drug misuse at an all-time high. The Government, the Justice Minister and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has to recognise that pay is a central issue in the recruitment and retention crisis facing the prison service.
Prison Officers demand pay justice. The Labour Government must act to restore our pay to pre austerity levels.”
ENDS
For further information, contact:
POA Press Office 020 8803 0255 Option 7
Cronin House
245 Church Street
London
N9 9HW
Telephone: 020 8803 0255
Membership enquiries: membership@poauk.org.uk
General enquiries:
general@poauk.org.uk
Representing over 30,000 Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers, the POA is the largest UK Union in this sector, able to trace its roots back more than 100 years.