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

Working in a high-risk sector, prison officers’ calls for proper PPE must be heeded – and the POA will be fighting to ensure effective protection at work is delivered, writes MARK FAIRHURST