Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / United Workers Union NT secretary Erina Early says correctional staff are in a tough position with Territory watch houses being used to house prisoners as the jails are full

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United Workers Union NT secretary Erina Early says correctional staff are in a tough position with Territory watch houses being used to house prisoners as the jails are full · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: With the legislative change overnight, some are wondering if we're
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  Speaker 1: going to see the numbers of offenders held in correctional
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  Speaker 1: centers expand.
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  Speaker 2: And joining me on the line is the.
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  Speaker 1: Secretary of the United Workers Union, the union which represents
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  Speaker 1: our correctional officers.
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  Speaker 2: Erina Early. Good morning to you morning, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: How are you?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, really good, Thanks so much for your time this morning, Erina.
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  Speaker 1: What's the reaction from correction staff to the changes to
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  Speaker 1: bail overnight?
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  Speaker 3: Well, Katie, the reaction with offers is where we're going
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  Speaker 3: to fit them because there is a capacity issue at
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  Speaker 3: the moment with overcrowding, so they are concerned where are
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  Speaker 3: they going to put new prisoners and are they going
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  Speaker 3: to get advocate resources?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well this is the question I guess that a
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  Speaker 1: lot of us are wondering at this point, Erina. From
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  Speaker 1: your understanding, look right now, if the prison is already full,
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  Speaker 1: where are we going to put people on remard?
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  Speaker 3: Aren't Well that's a really good question, Katie. So we
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  Speaker 3: have actually been working with the Commissioner Barley for Corrections, Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: working together to try and look at ways that we
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  Speaker 3: could actually put these new prisoners. Because corrections are in
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  Speaker 3: a bit of a hard place, Katie. They can't actually
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  Speaker 3: just shut the doors because the courts can still instruct
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  Speaker 3: them to take prisoners. So they're in a really hard
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  Speaker 3: place at the moment. So where are they going to
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  Speaker 3: put all these prisoners when there's no room for them?
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  Speaker 1: So as it currently stands, we've obviously got the correctional
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  Speaker 1: facility in Alice, you've got one in Darwin, and we've
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  Speaker 1: just heard from the Police Association president that there are
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  Speaker 1: some prisoners being held in the watch house, the Darwin
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  Speaker 1: watch House.
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  Speaker 2: Is that your understanding as well?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, So we've got forty prisoners in the Darwen Watchhouse,
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  Speaker 3: we've got twenty two prisoners in Alice Springs at the
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  Speaker 3: watchhouse there, and we've got ten prisoners at the watchhouse
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  Speaker 3: at Peter McCauley.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so there are already prisoners at the Peter McAuley center. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: And are we expecting those numbers? Well, I guess it's
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  Speaker 1: anybody scarce eraon or isn't it. But by the sounds
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  Speaker 1: of it, there is some capacity for the number of
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  Speaker 1: prisoners at Peter McCauley to actually grow.
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  Speaker 3: It just depends on what the staffing levels are how
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  Speaker 3: many they can sit in there now a big watch.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah right now?
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  Speaker 1: Tell us as well, is it a situation when you
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  Speaker 1: have got prisoners at the watch houses in Darwin Alla
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  Speaker 1: Springs and at the Peter McCauley Center. Are they they're
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  Speaker 1: obviously then looked after by correctional staff, aren't they not
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  Speaker 1: the police?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, that's by correction Yes.
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  Speaker 1: It must be a difficult situation though, I'm assuming because
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  Speaker 1: those watch houses aren't built to sort of keep people
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  Speaker 1: long term.
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  Speaker 3: No, that's correct. There only built for short term stays.
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  Speaker 3: So it is quite difficult. But the police are working
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  Speaker 3: very close. Police officers weren't very closely with the correctional
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  Speaker 3: officers to try ensure that the officers are comfortable and
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  Speaker 3: as well as the prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: Erona, you touched on this before in terms of the
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  Speaker 1: number of staff. Have we got enough correctional staff right
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  Speaker 1: now to deal with the growing numbers?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely not. So Corrections are still looking at putting on
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  Speaker 3: more officers and we've got to recruit group going through
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  Speaker 3: at the moment and they're looking for another thirty to
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  Speaker 3: forty officers in the next couple of months.
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  Speaker 1: And is it tough as well when you look at
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  Speaker 1: you know, you've obviously got experienced officers in there, but
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  Speaker 1: as those recruits come through, they would be quite inexperienced,
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  Speaker 1: brand new recruits having to sort of to get them
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  Speaker 1: on the job immediately.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, so you do that. It's quite intensive training that
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  Speaker 3: they're provided. We do get some as we call them
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  Speaker 3: pass trackers that comes through from other states within the country,
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  Speaker 3: and also there's a big push to recruit from New Zealand,
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  Speaker 3: but all corrections around the country are trying to push
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  Speaker 3: to get more officers. Now.
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  Speaker 1: I understand there has been a significant development though in
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  Speaker 1: pay negotiations for correctional staff.
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  Speaker 2: Can you talk us through that update.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so we've got some good news there, Katie, and
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  Speaker 3: thank you to all the territories for their support with
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  Speaker 3: the correctional officers. After two years, they finally have their
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  Speaker 3: eas been approved. It was approved. I'm voted up by
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  Speaker 3: the officers on Tuesday.
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  Speaker 2: And what's been the reaction.
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  Speaker 1: How are those correctional staff feeling about this finally getting
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  Speaker 1: through after two years.
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  Speaker 3: I think they've been exhausted because there's been a lot
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  Speaker 3: of protected action in the hostility around it. But there's
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  Speaker 3: a lot of relief now that the Enterprise Agreement has
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  Speaker 3: been completed, just going to go to the Fair Work
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  Speaker 3: Commission now for approval and now they can really then
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  Speaker 3: focus on workhelp and fafty matters, the overstaffing, fatigue, mental health.
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  Speaker 3: There's a big list for correctional officers. They can now prioritize.
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  Speaker 2: Those and so what deal have they secured?
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  Speaker 3: Okay, So like the other government agencies, we've got three
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  Speaker 3: percent wage increase for each year of the Enterprise Agreement,
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  Speaker 3: but correctional officers, Katie have like a conciliated allowance which
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  Speaker 3: is payment for loading and penalties, et cetera. They got
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  Speaker 3: that increased by six percent, so their first wage increase
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  Speaker 3: will be nine percent wage increase.
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  Speaker 2: Goodness made.
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  Speaker 3: That's massive dated I know back data to twenty twenty one,
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  Speaker 3: so there's about a lot of money about to be
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  Speaker 3: injected into the territory and economy. Wow, cryptal officers.
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  Speaker 2: It's a lot of money. Are those do you reckon?
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  Speaker 1: That's going to help in terms of trying to get
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  Speaker 1: more people to the territory or more people wanting to
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  Speaker 1: become correctional officers.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think Katie's going to put the MT basically
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  Speaker 3: as one of the highest playing correctional officers in the country,
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  Speaker 3: so it's going to be really attractive. They've also got
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  Speaker 3: increase and they've got an Alice Springs and Attraction and
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  Speaker 3: Retention allowance as well, which will commence when their agreements
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  Speaker 3: approved by the Fair Work Commission. So that's the additional
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  Speaker 3: five thousand dollars per year for every Alice Springs correctional officer.
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  Speaker 3: And then also too they've got face staffing levels. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: the big part of their EA was to ensure that
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  Speaker 3: they have these face staffing operam models in every prison
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  Speaker 3: or the four prisons in the MT and the first
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  Speaker 3: time ever we've got these face staffing models.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I know that when I had spoken off record
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  Speaker 1: to you know, to some correctional staff that that had
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  Speaker 1: been a really big sticking point for them, is that
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  Speaker 1: they did want to make sure that those safety levels
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  Speaker 1: were where they needed to.
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  Speaker 3: Be absolutely and so it was a bit of a
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  Speaker 3: storic wind for them that all four of them have
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  Speaker 3: been completed now as part of their entervise about bargaining.
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  Speaker 1: So tell me in terms of the changes around sort
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  Speaker 1: of the workers compensation are around the area of things,
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  Speaker 1: what are they and you know, what were the sticking
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  Speaker 1: points in the end.
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  Speaker 3: So the big sticking point with the workers comp legislation,
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  Speaker 3: as you probably know, is the works comp saying for
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  Speaker 3: all NT workers isn't that great. So if you're on
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  Speaker 3: approved workers comp, you actually don't accrue your annually person
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  Speaker 3: or leave sickly sorry, long service leave, et cetera. And
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  Speaker 3: if you're an extended workers comp after six months, your
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  Speaker 3: wages get reduced to seventy five percent. So we had
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  Speaker 3: officers pretty disappointed with the current legislation, and we've been
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  Speaker 3: lobbing governments for a long time about these changes. We
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  Speaker 3: will get there eventually, but we haven't got it now.
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  Speaker 3: So we've been including these clauses in EA's kadies. So
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  Speaker 3: the police actually have something in their EA. So the
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  Speaker 3: correctional officers wanted the same as the police officers, so
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  Speaker 3: where they can actually start accruing long service leave anually
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  Speaker 3: and sickly and get that top up after the six
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  Speaker 3: months so they have no reduction in their wages if
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  Speaker 3: they get injured in the workplace.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, So tell me erin how many members voted
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  Speaker 1: in favor of the OFFERA in the end. Was it
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  Speaker 1: quite you know, was an overwhelming sort of yes or
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  Speaker 1: how did it go?
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  Speaker 3: So ninety four point eight percent of the officers who
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  Speaker 3: voted voted yes, So that was three hundred and twenty
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  Speaker 3: nine correctional officers voted yes. You're eighteen voted no.
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  Speaker 1: And does this mean that those negotiations like it's all
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  Speaker 1: now come to an end.
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  Speaker 3: It has come to an end now, Katie. We're just
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  Speaker 3: getting through the paperwork now to go to the Fair
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  Speaker 3: Work Commission, who then will go through the agreement to
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  Speaker 3: make sure it leads the requirement of the Fair Work Act.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Erina early, please keep us up to date in
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  Speaker 1: terms of how things are going up within those correctional
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  Speaker 1: you know, within those correctional facilities. You know after hearing
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  Speaker 1: of course that we've got sort of forty prisoners in
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  Speaker 1: the Darwin watch House, twenty two in Alice Springs, ten
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  Speaker 1: in the Peter mcaulay's Center. You know, it's a they
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  Speaker 1: are quite large numbers to have that number in the
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  Speaker 1: watch houses in addition to what we've got in the
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  Speaker 1: actual correctional facilities. So I would imagine that it's pretty
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  Speaker 1: busy times for our correctional staff.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely would definitely keep your approach what's happening.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you so much for your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Very much appreciated you two. Thank you