Prison Officers at Clarence Correctional Centre (CCC) will begin a 48-hour strike today after rejecting a desperate 11th hour offer by the prison’s private operator.
The stoppage commenced at 6am today (26/10) as planned and will end at 7am on Friday 28 October 2022.
This will mean the CCC’s population of 1000 prisoners, which includes a men’s maximum security wing, will likely be confined to their cells for two days and two nights.
The for-profit CCC is privately run by foreign multinational Serco.
CPSU Branch Assistant Secretary Troy Wright says he’s not surprised Prison Officers rejected Serco’s offer.
“Yesterday Serco attempted to halt the strike by offering Prison Officers a rise in base pay rates, but paid for it by cutting overtime rates.
“Overtime is a key component of Prison Officer’s current take home pay as Serco has difficulty recruiting and retaining staff because Prison Officers at the prison are the worst paid in the country.
“As a result the few remaining serving Officers are forced to take on overtime to meet minimum staffing requirements at the facility and to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
“During two full years of negotiations this outfit have been telling Officers they have no capacity to staff the prison properly or to lift their pay so they’re not the worst paid Officers in Australia.
“Making an 11th hour offer on the condition they don’t go on strike didn’t impress Prison Officers one bit.
“Prison Officers barely had time to read and digest Serco’s offer as it was made so late so you can understand their reaction.
“Serco have had two years to sit down with their Prison Officers and negotiate a fair outcome all parties can live with yet instead they’ve stonewalled, intimidated and lied to their Prison Officers every step of the way.
“Prison Officers simply don’t trust Serco, and that’s a result of Serco wasting two years negotiating in bad faith and creating a lot of bad blood,” says CPSU Branch Assistant Secretary Troy Wright.
