PRISON officers have voted to accept a new pay deal which will give them increases of up to £45 a week in return for increased flexibility, writes Padraig Yeates.
The increases, due under the restructuring clause of the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, are on top of the first phase of Partnership 2000, which will give them a 2.5 per cent increase from next week.
The deal is similar to those made with paramedics, radiographers and laboratory technicians. Prison officers will receive increases ranging from 5.2 per cent at the bottom of the scale to 10.1 per cent at the top. Those with more than 12 years service will receive a long-service increment worth another 2.8 per cent.
About 1,300 of the 2,300 members of the Prison Officers Association will qualify for the long-service increment. The offer was only accepted by a 60 per cent majority. Part of the reason may be the dropping of pay parity with the nurses.
This may, however, be a blessing in disguise as attempts by the POA to win increases have been handicapped by the implications of conceding similar demands to over 26,000 nurses.
POA representative Mr Tom Hoare said the outcome showed members were willing to embrace change when they were consulted about it and paid for it. While the agreement was different from the nurses deal, Mr Hoare said he believed it was comparable, especially when it was remembered that the rent allowance (worth £37 a week), was included in calculating pensions.