Prison acts over mass sick leave
The Prison Service in the North was today preparing to put into action contingency plans after it received rumours that a large number of prison officers would this morning call in sick as part of a long-running dispute with the government.
What form the contingency plans would take have not been revealed, but they are thought to involve sending police officers into the top security Maghaberry jail in Antrim, Magilligan prison in Derry and a young offenders’ centre.
Prison Officers have been in dispute with the Government since it was discovered by police investigating allegations of an IRA spy ring at Stormont that personal details of 1,400 officers, including home addresses, were in the hands of republicans.
The Prison Officers Association has staged a number of brief protests at what they claim is a failure of government to provide proper home security to officers who fear for their families’ lives – or pay the costs for them to move home.
The Government does have a scheme for meeting the costs of relocation of those in danger but the POA has been demanding considerably more than that on offer.
A spokeswoman for the Prison Service said it was “aware of the rumours” large numbers of officers might phone in sick this morning when they were due to take over from the night shift at 7.30am.
But she added: “We have not been officially notified of any action.”
She said the Prison Service had every sympathy for officers whose personal security had been compromised, but said: “The way to resolve this is through discussion.”
The POA said it was not aware of any “sickness-strike” and described it as “pure speculation”.
However last week POA chairman Finlay Spratt said the stress of the current situation was building up among his members and there would be a manning crisis through sick leave unless the situation was resolved.
Assembly member Ian Paisley Jnr, of the Democratic Unionist Party tonight urged the Government to sort out the dispute with the prison officers.
Mass sick leave was “a potential security disaster”, he said.
He added: “The Government had better wake up to the reality that if they don’t address this issue quickly, prison officers will bring the prison service to a complete and total halt.”
