Australia's worst paid prison officers set to strike again on Monday

Prison officers at the Clarence Correctional Centre near Grafton will strike again this Monday (10/10), incensed over multinational Serco's current refusal to improve safety standards or boost pay rates that sit below that of Bunnings workers. The union has notified Serco of the stoppage to commence at 6am on Monday 10 October 2022, and continue through until 6pm on Monday 10 October 2022. Officers at the centre, which includes a maximum-security division, are paid $26.88 an hour and have been negotiating for two years for a new pay deal with Serco. "These men and women put their own safety on the line every day for the rest of us. It's not right to ask them to do that for the same pay as they'd make scanning shovels at Bunnings," said PSA Assistant General Secretary Troy Wright. "Serco is a massive multinational with incredibly deep pockets. It can easily afford to pay these workers the same rates as those who work in public prisons. Instead Serco have stonewalled us for two years of negotiations. "I think Serco figured these prison officers would just fold in the end. Well, I hope they understand how wrong they were. We won't stop fighting until we achieve a fair outcome. "Very few of us ever want to set foot in a prison, let alone work in one. But it's vital work that has to be done. And those who put up their hand for it shouldn't have to struggle to feed their families. "The dismal pay and conditions that Serco offer means they can't recruit or retain staff. So the gaol is regularly short-staffed. Some nights there are just four officers on duty. It's a disaster waiting to happen. "This is a private prison, so one perverse aspect of the chronic understaffing is that every time Serco don't fill a shift, that's more profit they make, and that's just wrong. "My message to Serco today is clear: stop playing silly buggers, sit down with the union, offer them a fair wage. They deserve it and the Grafton community deserves it. "We know any pay rise won by prison officers will flow straight through the economy of this region which desperately needs it. And I bet Serco's shareholders won't notice one way or the other. So let's get a deal done."