Two-day strike at prisons

Maintenance staff in the Amicus, T&G, GMB and UCATT unions have held a 48-hour walkout at more than 130 prisons in England and Wales.

Four thousand workers - including cooks, plumbers, electricians, plasterers, roofers, gardeners and farm workers - took part in the industrial action, which lasted from 31 August to 2 September.

The dispute centres on the Prison Service's imposition of a pay offer amounting to 1% for many maintenance staff - even though these workers have responsibilities to supervise prisoners and are trained to deal with suicide attempts and hostage situations. Prison officers have received 2.8% for the same period.

A spokesman for Amicus - which represents 1,500 industrial staff in the service - said: "We will go back to the Prison Service when the action ends to see if they are now willing to talk about reaching a settlement which recognises the contribution these workers make."