Latest editorial
PRISON staff at the notorious Wormwood Scrubs jail walked out yesterday over health and safety concerns.
Members of the Prison Officers Association (POA), who are barred from taking formal industrial action, gathered outside the west London facility in protest against a spate of recent incidents.
The action came just weeks after an inspection report sparked claims of “Dickensian squalor” at the prison.
Our members face serious violence, crumbling workplaces and exposure to dangerous drugs — it is outrageous we still cannot legally use our industrial muscle to fight back and defend ourselves, writes STEVE GILLAN
MARK FAIRHURST highlights the main issues facing officers in a long neglected service, and raised by front-line delegates at POA conference last week, including understaffing, violence, bullying and the ongoing denial of workers’ right to strike
