Prison staff wait on pay review

Prison officers are not protected by a long-term pay deal. Their pay review body will, therefore, have to navigate its way around the pay curb policy for 2010 when its presents its report to the government (which it is due to do by the end of February). The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) says its members fully understand problems arsing from the recession, but see the review body as part of a “compensatory mechanism” in respect of its loss of collective bargaining rights over pay.

A POA spokesperson said: “During the last nine years, pay for frontline staff within public sector prisons has been losing pace with the cost of living and inflation, even though the country was in the so-called ‘good times’. Now the country is in the ‘bad times’, it appears public services are the easy option.”

The POA is convinced that once again the Pay Review Body will succumb to government pressure. It has always questioned the independence of the Pay Review Body and “will continue to challenge the government for change,” the spokesperson said.