Thousands of prison officers are defying a High Court injunction and refusing to end their national strike over a pay dispute. The surprise walkout by members of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) in England and Wales began at 0700 BST.
The action came after it pulled out of a no-strike agreement with government.
Officers in Bristol, Canterbury and Long Lartin returned to work in the afternoon, but other POA members said they would stay out for 24 hours.
Prison Governors Association chairman Charles Bushell told BBC News all 129 prisons in England and Wales had suffered disruption.
During the day, prisoners were kept locked in their cells and senior managers took charge of duties such as distributing meals. Visitors were also turned away and court appearances cancelled.
The POA’s national executive committee, who are due to meet in London in the evening, are yet to issue formal instructions to its members on how to respond to the injunction.
BBC correspondent Daniel Sandford said the union appeared to be using “delaying tactics” to stretch the dispute out, potentially risking the government seeking a further order from the courts for breaching the injunction.
‘Widespread’ action
Earlier this year the independent pay review body for prisons recommended to ministers salaries ranging from £12,000 for auxiliary staff to almost £32,000 for principal officers, representing a 2.5% rise in two stages.
Most prison officers start on around £17,700.
The POA, which has 28,000 members, said up to 90% of those who had been due on duty had joined the strike.
It said the walkout had been “widespread and unprecedented” and there was “lockdown” – where prisoners are confined to their cells – at most prisons.
Affected prisons include:
- Liverpool prison where about 25-30 striking officers temporarily suspend their action to deal with three prisoners who had climbed on to a roof
- Birmingham prison where a mass outdoor meeting has taken place; all 1,450 prisoners are locked down, and fire engines attended to deal with two minor fires, one inside a cell and a rubbish fire outside
- Bristol prison where more than 120 officers joined a picket line after serving breakfast to inmates. Staff returned to work at 1550 BST
- Wormwood Scrubs in west London, where the 1,300 prisoners are being looked after by eight governors
Officers at Bristol prison began to return to duties in the afternoon
- Manchester prison – formerly known as Strangeways – where plans are in place to serve packed lunches and dinners to inmates in their cells
- Cardiff prison where inmates locked in their cells have taunted a picket line in the car park with shouts of “You’re breaking the law”
- Dartmoor, Exeter and Channings Wood prisons in south-west England
- Wakefield prison, where POA officials claimed the 745 inmates – including Soham killer Ian Huntley – were being guarded by no more than 20 senior managers
- Frankland high-security prison, County Durham, where a handful of striking officers volunteered to go back to work because of the danger posed by inmates
- Wellingborough Prison in Northamptonshire where the site is being run by the governor and other civilian staff
The Association of Chief Police Officers said police cells were being used for any inmates who could not return to their normal prison after court and for newly sentenced prisoners.
‘Overwhelming case’
The prison population in England and Wales is close to capacity levels, with about 80,000 people held.
At the High Court, the judge, Mr Justice Ramsey, said there was an “overwhelming case” that a legally binding agreement had been broken.
Lawyers for the Ministry of Justice told the High Court the strike had meant there was a backlog of 900 people waiting to be transferred to prisons.
The hearing was also told a prisoner had been found dead in a cell.
A government lawyer said he was not making a link between the strike and the death but it was a concern.
Staff at the category-C Acklington prison in Northumberland later said they did not believe the death of William Stuart Laidlaw, who was found hanged at 0930 BST, was connected to the strike.
Mr Justice Ramsey said the effect of any strike would have “particularly difficult consequences” to prisons already filled to capacity.
“Given the current position in the prisons, it is clear in my view that this is an appropriate case where the administration of the prison service as part of the administration of justice in the country requires the grant of the injunction,” he said.
In Bristol, local POA representative Paul Moltby said he had seen the wording of the injunction and believed officers had no choice but to return to work.
“The judge makes it quite clear that anybody who does not go back to work… does not follow the court order… will be in contempt of court and that is not a position we feel that we can put prison officers in,” he said.
Shadow minister for justice Edward Garnier said the government had “mis-managed, both strategically and on a day-to-day basis the prison estate” and “wound-up” the POA.
Officials say Justice Secretary Jack Straw is planning to hold talks with the POA next week but deny the government had failed to address concerns about pay and falling morale.