QLD:Prison strike unlikely before Xmas: union

AAP General News (Australia)
12-14-2010
QLD:Prison strike unlikely before Xmas: union

BRISBANE, Dec 14 AAP - A Queensland union says prison officers are unlikely to take
industrial action before Christmas after "productive" talks over workplace concerns.

Queensland Public Sector Union (QPSU) representatives on Tuesday met with Department
of Community Safety Director-General Jim McGowan and Queensland Corrective Services Commissioner
Kelvin Anderson.

The talks came after prison officers passed a no-confidence motion against senior jail
managers, accusing them of trying to resurrect a staffing policy they said had led to
escapes.

"The parties agreed on processes with the objective of resolving the issues of concern
by the end of January," a statement issued by the Department of Community Safety said.

QPSU spokesman Michael Thomas said the intervention of Mr McGowan, demanded by the
union, had been "very productive".

He said industrial action before Christmas now seemed unlikely.

"Certainly, that doesn't seem to be needed before Christmas," Mr Thomas told AAP on Tuesday.

"We've agreed to enter into some intensive discussions over the next few weeks, this
side and the other side of Christmas, with a view to resolving some of our concerns."

Mr Thomas said the union was concerned jail managers were pressing ahead with policy
changes, and proposed changes, without proper consultation.

The union is particularly worried about what it said was an attempt to reinstitute
a penny-pinching policy which meant some shifts went unfilled when prison officers were
ill.

The union has blamed the policy for past escapes, and says it endangers the safety
of prison officers.

Mr Anderson on Monday said the department would never introduce a rostering system
that put staff or jail security at risk.

AAP tnf/crh/cdh

KEYWORD: JAILS

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