Latest government proposal rejected by prison guards
Portugal’s prison guard unions have once again rejected the government’s proposal for pay rises – the same proposal presented to the police, amounting to €180 – and warned of a possible “hot summer” with strikes in prisons.
The minister for justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, who on Monday was split between the negotiating meeting with the prison guard unions and the Cabinet meeting, presented the same proposal that came out of the ministry of the interior last week, which proposed an increase of €180 in the risk supplement, a figure that the unions vehemently reject.
“It’s completely unacceptable. It’s a far cry from what we expect the next proposal to be,” Frederico Morais, leader of the National Union of Prison Guard Corps (SNCGP), told reporters.
A meeting is scheduled for June 4 at 5.30pm in which the government is expected to present an “improved proposal.”
“We are still waiting. We roundly rejected the €180 proposal and we’re waiting for the next one,” Morais said.
As he left the meeting, which was also attended by the secretaries of state for justice and public administration, he said that the proposal “falls far short” of what the unions had demanded, insisting on a figure of 15% of the 115 index for public administration, which is equivalent to €1,026.
“Apart from the supplement we already earn, we’re talking about a proposal of around €700. The minister for justice and the minister of finance will have to find a compromise,” said Frederico Morais.
The alternative to a lack of an agreement is a “hot summer”, admitting the possibility of strikes that could “bring the prison system to a halt”.
“We made a point of emphasising to the deputy secretaries of state for justice and public administration that they should warn the minister of finance and the prime minister that we’re probably going to have a very hot summer in the prisons (…) We’re going to use everything in our power to make the government see that the prison guards exist and that they have to be treated with dignity,” he said.
Frederico Morais also denounced a water shortage at the Vale de Judeus prison in Alcoentre, where inmates and prison guards have been without running water for two days. The situation is being minimised with external supplies from the fire brigade, using tankers, to allow for hygiene and the preparation of meals, for example.
According to the SNCGP leader, there are around 500 inmates in the high security prison, which receives convicts with average sentences of 15 years.
The prison neighbourhood, where the guards and their families live, is also being affected.
According to Frederico Morais, there are no estimates for resolving the leak, not least because there are administrative requirements that delay the process, such as the need to obtain three quotes to award the repair contract, which the union leader says makes no sense in an urgent case.
In a response sent to Lusa, the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services clarified that “the rupture affects the residential neighbourhood and not the Vale de Judeus Prison”, and that the situation is expected to be resolved this Tuesday.
Source: LUSA
