Prison Officers at the Parklea Correctional Centre near Blacktown will strike today for 48 hours over safety concerns and poor pay rates.
Parklea Gaol has the worst record for serious assaults on prison officers in NSW.
Officers at the maximum security men's gaol are the worst paid in the country and are routinely asked to work understaffed, especially on weekends.
The Centre is privately run by multinational MTC.
CPSU NSW Assistant General Secretary Troy Wright says no-one should have to go to work fearing for their safety.
"Last financial year Parklea Gaol had the worst record for serious assaults on prison officers in NSW, and the second worst rate of assaults amongst inmates.
"In the last year we have seen a riot and two fires at Parklea Gaol, one which caused $8 million in damage.
"In the last year there have been three deaths at Parklea Gaol, it's easy to see something is going seriously wrong.
"Only in the last few weeks a Prison Officer was king hit from behind, and we know of Officers having shivs held to their throats and being punched in the face.
"Understaffing is chronic and causing alot of these problems, we know this gaol is short staffed everyday.
"Because it's a private gaol every time MTC doesn't roster someone on they pocket their wages, so Officers are routinely doing the jobs of two or three people which is dangerous and stressful and means inmates spend longer locked in their cells.
"The longer inmates spend locked in their cells the more agitated they get and the more likely they are to assault staff, or start riots or fires, you don't need to be Einstein to work that out.
"For example this week some areas with 480 prisoners which are meant to have 28 Officers looking after them had just 17.
"MTC trains their own Officers and we know they routinely lie to them telling them they will get every second weekend off, in reality it's not unusual for Officers to get one weekend off every six weeks.
"Because MTC don't pay penalties for working weekends, they save money by making their staff work as much as possible on Saturday and Sundays when they should be spending time with their families.
"We know MTC have brought forward the graduation of their latest batch of Probationary Prison Officers so they can work when other Officers are on strike this Friday and Saturday.
"So these 30 inexperienced Officers will spend their first day on the job teaching themselves how to run a maximum security gaol, it's a recipe for disaster.
"Staff are currently negotiating a new enterprise agreement with MTC and they have offered Officers a paltry 2.5% increase, Officers want to see that raised by 1% otherwise strike action will continue.
"Our members also want staffing levels increased and a decrease in weekend work," says CPSU NSW Assistant General Secretary Troy Wright.
