Prison officers 'back protest'

Barlinnie prison officers meet in the rain

Union leaders say more than 90% of prison officers in Scotland took part in UK-wide industrial action over privatisation.

They turned up late for their morning shifts after taking part in hour-long union meetings in prison car parks. The action was mirrored throughout the UK.

The Prison Officers' Association Scotland insisted it was not a wildcat strike.

The Scottish Prison Service said it believed all 17 jails were affected.

Prison officers are banned from striking

Since 1994, the UK's 29,000-strong prison officers have been banned by law from going on strike.

The association said the action was not illegal and was allowed under the European Convention of Human Rights.

Derek Turner, who represents Scottish prison officers, said: "If they are going to reduce the number of staff who are on duty then the available staff will have to do longer shifts.

"We believe that is not conducive to a family friendly prison service. Officers will be tired and it would not be of great benefit to the service at all."

'Increased competition'

But Tony Cameron, the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, said any future changes would have to meet increasingly competitive circumstances.

He added: "If we ignore the competition then when we have a new prison coming along, the private sector will say that it can offer a much better deal then we can building it ourselves."

Tony Cameron: "Keeping up with competition"

Officers have insisted they have tried all other means of having their grievances heard, but have failed to make progress.

Union leaders hoped the mass meetings would gauge the strength of feeling and provide the basis for decisions about future action.

At Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow - Scotland's biggest jail - about 110 officers held a meeting shortly after 0600BST.

A spokesman for the officers said there was 98% support for their case among staff at Barlinnie.

Job fears

They had a number of concerns about a variety of plans including a possible fall in wages, and job losses, he said.

They were angry too that changes to attendance patterns, which govern starting and finishing times, would cause unacceptable disruption to their working lives and were being imposed on officers.

"This is the first show of our real concern. Hopefully we won't need any more," he added.

Matters came to a head last month when the UK Government announcement that it was to invite private security firms to run Brixton jail in London.

Warders in Scotland took official industrial action for the first time in the service's history in 1993 as part of a national civil service strike.

Officers walked out of 19 prisons leaving inmates locked in their cells.