Straw moves to prevent prison officer strikes (1st Update)

By Rich Bowden, M&C Staff Writer Jan 8, 2008, 11:07 GMT

British Justice Minister Jack Straw (L) talks with European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini prior to the Justice Interior Affairs (JAI) council at the EU headquarter in Brussels, 09 November 2007. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

(M&C) - Prison officers will be prevented from a repeat of last August's strike action as the government moves to introduce bans on industrial action for prison officers in England and Wales.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw said he was left with "no alternative" after it emerged that £220,000 of damage was done to the a juvenile wing at Lancaster Farms Prison in Lancaster during last year's strike with windows and plumbing smashed by inmates.

Mr Straw said: "Our judgment is that we will have no alternative but to seek this reserve power."

"I don't want it to be used. I have been extremely reluctant to bring this forward and I hope we can avoid using it."

"Parliament has been clear and has laid down in statute that the risks to the public in respect to… [the police and prison services] is simply too great to allow them to take industrial action," he said.

"The public's safety has to be my primary consideration. But nor can it be acceptable for prisoners to be locked in their cells for an indeterminate period and with great uncertainty about when they will next get a meal, exercise or medication, with serious risks to their welfare."

The move will increase tensions between the government and the Prison Officers' Association (POA) who are currently negotiating pay rises for officers.

Update: The move by the government has prompted strike action calls from the prison union. The POA chairman Colin Moses told the BBC that 60 union branches had called for industrial action.

"We are under massive pressure to take action," he said. "There is a feeling of total betrayal from this government and a view that the Labour Party has abandoned its promises on trades union rights, so why should we uphold the rules?"

The union is due to meet later Tuesday to discuss its response to the government's ban.