Prison officers at a maximum security facility in western Sydney will walk off the job for 48 hours on Friday over complaints about understaffing, poor pay and unsafe working conditions.
The Public Service Association of NSW said staff at the facility were the worst paid in the country and were routinely understaffed, putting them at risk of harm.
The prison officers are fighting against multinational company MTC, which privately runs the Parklea facility, with PSA assistant general secretary Troy Wright claiming the company would “routinely lie” to the staff about their working conditions. Mr Wright added staff were told they would get every second weekend off but said in reality it was “not unusual” for officers to get one weekend off every six weeks.
“In the last year we have seen a riot and two fires at Parklea Jail, one which caused $8 million in damage. In that same period there have been three deaths at the jail,” he said. The PSA representative also said the prison officers were regularly doing the jobs of two or three staff members, forcing prisoners to remain locked in their cells.
“For example, this week some areas had 480 prisoners who are meant to have 28 officers looking after them. They had just 17.”
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