Over 20,000 prison offers take unofficial strike action
Prison officers in the UK don't have the right to strike and their pay is set by a Pay Review Body rather than through collective bargaining. This year prison officers, like other public sector workers, have seen their 2.5% pay increase introduced in stages. This means their pay increase this year is worth 1.9%. The government says this is necessary to stay in line with the consumer price index (1.9%) but unions argue this is well below the retail price index (3.8%). The retail price index includes mortgage payments and is seen by unions as reflecting better the cost of living. The Prison