For the second time in 10 days, prison officers from the Clarence Correctional Centre (CCC) stopped work amidst ongoing frustrations surrounding multinational Serco’s current refusal to improve what have been described as unsafe working conditions or increase employee pay rates.
In a statement released last week by the Public Service Association (PSA), the union announced they had notified Serco of the intended stoppage, which was held from 6am until 6pm on October 10.
The latest event followed a rally at the Truck Drivers Memorial Park in South Grafton on September 30, which was attended by more than 80 CCC prison officers, who loudly voiced their concerns.
PSA Assistant General Secretary Troy Wright said officers at the CCC, which includes a maximum-security division, are paid $26.88 an hour and have been negotiating for close to two years to secure a new pay deal with Serco.
Mr Wright recently compared their current salary to a Grade 2A retail worker at Bunnings, who earns $26.31 per hour, and said the prison officers would be better working in an environment selling hammers instead of working for appalling wages while they risked being hit by one.
“These men and women put their own safety on the line every day for the rest of us,” he said.
“It’s not right to ask them to do that for the same pay they’d earn scanning shovels at Bunnings.
“Serco is a massive multinational with incredibly deep pockets.
“It can easily afford to pay these workers the same rates as those who work in public prisons, but instead, Serco have stonewalled us for two years of negotiations.
“I think Serco figured these prison officers would just fold in the end.
“Well, I hope they understand how wrong they were, because we won’t stop fighting until we achieve a fair outcome.”
Mr Wright identified the “dismal pay and conditions” offered by Serco as the main reasons the multinational has difficulties recruiting and retaining employees, resulting in the CCC being regularly short staffed with fewer than five officers on duty some nights.
“Very few of us ever want to set foot in a prison, let alone work in one, but it’s vital work that has to be done, and those who put up their hand for it shouldn’t have to struggle to feed their families,” he said.
“This is a private prison, so one perverse aspect of the chronic understaffing is that every time Serco don’t fill a shift, that’s more profit they make, and that’s just wrong.
“My message to Serco is clear: stop playing silly buggers, sit down with the union, offer them a fair wage.
“They deserve it, and the Grafton community deserves it.
“We know any pay rise won by prison officers will flow straight through the economy of this region which desperately needs it.
“And I bet Serco’s shareholders won’t notice one way or the other, so let’s get a deal done.”
This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 12 October 2022.
