UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, will step up the fight against the
privatisation of the probation service in a speech to delegates at the
Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric
Workers (POA) conference today (11 May).
Dave Prentis, UNISONs General Secretary, will say:
Probation service workers face a huge battle over the plan to privatise their
job supervising offenders sentenced to community service . The bidding
process is already rigged to favour private companies companies like Serco
and Sodexho which are trying to make a profit out of prisoners and
offenders.
The integrity of our criminal justice system is precious and priceless. It’s
fundamental to our society’s cohesion and stability, and citizens sense of
safety and security. It should not be parcelled up and sold off to multinational
corporations looking for a quick and easy buck. We know from hard
experience that this will mean corners being cut, standards on the slide and a
race to the bottom on pay, pensions and working conditions.
We have a Government of chancers taking a chainsaw to our public services
and making our members pay for a crisis they didn’t create. Slashing benefits,
services and employment rights for working people, as they cut taxes for their
friends in the banks and the big corporations, and create even more
opportunities for the privatisers to plunder our public services for profit.
Workers face real terms cuts in their pay while bills and prices rocket.
We must join together to fight against the dangerous commercialisation of
criminal justice. The Government must think again, as we know that there is
an alternative.