Prison staff upset by Mr Lange’s remarks

Press, 12 February 1986, Page 2

Prison staff upset by Mr Lange’s remarks

Prison officers have challenged a statement by the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, that they are not subject to regular overtime, callbacks, and “grubby stuff.” Mr Lange had said that the police had had a big pay settlement last month but that they had to put up with working conditions that prison wardens were not subjected to. Mr Shane Goodger, chairman of the prison officers’ group of the Public Service Association, said that he was surprised by Mr Lange’s comments, which were made at a post-Cabinet press conference on Monday and reported in “The Press” yesterday. Mr Lange said also that the Government was not prepared to be held to ransom by greedy people. He referred particularly to the prison officers’ rejection of 20 per cent as a "nil” offer.

Mr Goodger said that between July and December last year prison officers at Christchurch Prison had worked 8654 hours overtime, including 674 callbacks and 3000 hours worked past the eight-hour work day.

“When this is divided among 123 disciplinary staff Mr Lange could work out that we do quite regular callbacks and overtime,” said Mr Goodger. He said that he won-

dered what Mr Lange regarded as grubby, when prisons were considered prime places for A.1.D.5., when inmates had venereal diseases, lice and hepatitis.

"Our medical staff have advised us to wear protective gloves for any inmate contact and to carry them (the gloves) in our pockets at all times.

“I wonder how Mr Lange would feel if he had a chamber pot of excreta thrown at him or if he had to clean up an inmate and his cell after the inmate had painted himself and his cell with excreta,” Mr Goodger said.

To justify the prison officers’ salary claim, Mr Goodger said that the incidents of assaults on officers and other serious misdemeanours requiring the visit of a District Court judge had increased 400 per cent since 1981. In the first five weeks of the year such incidents had increased 95 per cent compared with the same time last year.

“We note with interest that Mr Lange has a salary in excess of $lOO,OOO and accepted a large percentage increase to make his salary nearly five times as high as mine,” Mr Goodger said. “I do not get a free house, free car, chauffeur, or air travel, to name a few of his ‘add ons,” but he has seen fit to call us greedy.”