Prison staff reject ‘nil’ offer; warn of action

Press, 6 February 1986, Page 1

Prison staff reject ‘nil’ offer; warn of action

Prison officers throughout New Zealand may strike after rejecting a pay offer that negotiators have said is an “insult.”

Officers have given 14 days notice of industrial action. The chairman of the Public Service Association's prisons group, Mr Shane Goodger, said a total walk-out was possible. Prison officers were insulted by what they considered to be a nil offer by their employer, the State Services Commission, he said. Stop-work meetings and “wildcat” walk-outs occurred in several prisons throughout New Zealand after yesterday’s announcement that the commission had offered only the 20.1 per cent increase already offered to all State servants. “It is exactly what we are entitled to and nothing more; the commission has not recognised the work we do,” ( Mr Goodger said. Senior prison officers with 4y 2 years experience had claimed a 30 to 34 per cent increase on top of the 20.1 State Service adjustment. Most prison officers were in this group and their pay would have been increased from $19,467 to $25,100 a year

if the increase had been approved, Mr Goodger said. » The last big rise for officers had been in 1979. Although they had received the same increases that all State servants were entitled to since then, no recognition of the changing nature of their job had been gained, said Mr Goodger. A higher proportion of violent offenders, increasing numbers of psychologically disturbed inmates, and prison overcrowding had resulted in high levels of stress for officers and staff recruitment problems. While prison officers had no pay relativity with other groups, the pay increase gained by the police was a consideration in the claim. “We are both dealing with the same commodity — the criminal element,” he said. Stop-work meetings will be held in prison Institutions throughout New Zealand during the next 14 days for staff to decide on the action they will take. Mr Goodger said that in his 10 years as a pay

negotiator for officers he had not known the mood to be so angry. “We must warn that the action could be severe — we are not prepared to take this.” Previous industrial action had involved muster bans, officers not accepting new inmates from the police, and a limitation on the numbers they were prepared to supervise, he said. Action would be “much stronger” this time if there was not a positive move by the commission to meet the officers’ claim, said Mr Goodger. The assistant commissioner responsible for industrial relations for the commission, Mr David Swallow, said the officers’ argument for an increase above other State servants had not been strong enough. There had been changes in the officers’ job but these did not warrant the increase sought. However, the commission would re-examine the claim, although no further meetings between the groups had been planned, he said.