Probation workers have voted in favour of strike action over concerns regarding pay and workloads. Members of Napo backed walkouts and other forms of industrial action, with the union confirming that plans are underway to launch strike action at a later date.
Napo said the ballot was triggered by an "inadequate" 5% pay offer and the employer's failure to agree on measures that would begin to tackle workload pressures. The union said concerns over workloads have intensified since the Government introduced its early release scheme, designed to ease overcrowding in prisons.
High turnout and serious anger
Napo general secretary Ian Lawrence said: "The high turnout by our members, and the result vindicates the campaign to achieve a pay rise to make up lost ground in comparative pay with other staff employed within HMPPS (Prison and Probation Service)."
"The vote also reflects serious anger at the state of probation workloads, which were already in crisis before the latest version of the prisoner early release scheme."
"Our members have tried desperately to do what the previous government, as well as this one, have demanded but have done so against a background of inadequate staffing and a lack of resources within our communities to provide rehabilitation as an alternative to re-offending."
Stagnated wages and chronic workloads
Napo said probation wages have "stagnated" since 2010, with reception staff earning a salary just above the minimum wage – making them the lowest paid workers in the civil service. "Workloads are in a chronic state, with Napo members undertaking thousands of hours of unpaid overtime just to stay on top of the demands placed upon them," said the union.
In the ballot over pay, 85% of Napo members voted in favour of action short of strike action, while 74% backed full strike action. In a separate ballot concerning workloads, 87% voted in favour of action short of strike action, with 75% voting in favour of strikes.
