Stop Work Meeting at Wandoo Reintegration Facility

Staff at the Wandoo Reintegration Facility in Murdoch stopped work at 9am this morning as part of a dispute over pay and conditions with prison operator Serco.

It is part of ongoing protected industrial action being conducted by members of the Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association and WA Prison Officers’ Union.

The action, that got underway with low-level protests last Saturday, will continue to escalate until Serco returns to the negotiation table to improve its offer to custodial and non-custodial staff.

Union members will continue industrial action until Serco starts being reasonable.

Future action may be unpredictable.

“The current offer is both unacceptable and unfair,” CPSU/CSA branch assistant secretary Rikki Hendon said.

“We are calling on Serco to improve its offer and close the gap between what they want to pay their employees at Wandoo and what they pay at Acacia Prison.

“It is the same company where employees are doing the same job for the same risk, so why is there a difference in pay?”

Ms Hendon said union members picked 9am as the time to walk off the job as it would have maximum impact on the prison’s operations for the day.

WAPOU secretary John Welch said industrial action was always a last resort, but Serco had forced their hand by refusing to negotiate in good faith.

"Even though our members will be walking off the job to protest over their treatment by Serco, they will still take measures to ensure the safety and security of prisoners and the public," he said.

"Our members take their duties very seriously, but they are prepared to escalate their industrial action if Serco continues to treat them unfairly."

Staff kicked off their protest when they started breaching uniform protocol last Saturday by wearing GIVE US A FAIR DEAL stickers on their shirts.
 

Comments (1)

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  Mark Finnegan

  21 November 2015 at 09:57 | #

  Congratulations to members & Union staff involved in this action. Let's hope it brings Serco back to the bargaining table.

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