Prison officers deny strikes planned
Last night, Mr Eugene Dennehy, deputy general secretary, Irish Prison Officers’ Association, said his members wanted to tackle the current staffing crisis without resorting to industrial action.
The row between prison officers and management of Irish prisons was not about overtime, but about the fact that officers were being expected to extend the normal working week and remain on call or ready for work during time off.
Fundamental changes in work practice were being unilaterally proposed by prisons management.
He stressed that the IPOA had requested prisons’ management accompany the union to settlement talks under the aegis of the Labour Relations Commission.
That offer still stood and the prison officers were determined to resolve the differences between them and prisons’ management “without ever having to resort to industrial action in ay way, shape or form.” “It is our intention to do everything possible to find a just and fair resolution to this impasse,” Mr Dennehy said.
“There’s a huge amount of fudge being spun out to the public giving the perception that this is about the proposed elimination of overtime. It’s not, it’s about prison officers being told they have to work longer hours and remain on call on every day off.”
