Guards and prison managers coordinate efforts to combat prison degradation

The National Union of Prison Guards (SNCGP) and the Association of Sector Managers’ Unions will coordinate fighting to oppose what they see as a “total breakdown of supervision”, a union source said this Sunday.

For now, the two trade union bodies will hold a press conference at 12pm on Tuesday in what will be the first initiative to combat “the state of degradation that the prison service has reached”, they said in a statement.

According to Frederico Morais, leader of the SNCGP, the press conference is intended to respond to the “complete failure of the guardianship authorities in relation to the prison guards”, to the “degradation in which the prison system is at the moment.” “.

“We warned about the collapse of the system, but no one ever wanted to know about it, and now we are faced with fewer and fewer guards, more and more prisoners and more and more difficulties in resolving situations every day,” he explained. .

The leader allows strikes or other protests after consultation with “the most representative prison guard unions” with a representative structure of guards and management, something unusual in the sector’s trade union history.

The situation is especially relevant for career growth, explained Frederico Morais.

“Look at my example: I’ve been a security guard for 22 years and I’m at the former third level,” he said, stressing that the problems become more obvious when compared with other security agencies.

“We have a course of chiefs running for the main guard, which opened in August last year, and the final list of those who should already be promoted has not yet been made public, whereas in the PSP this happens automatically.”

“The current government claims that it has spent 46 million euros on the Portuguese prison system, but we don’t know on what,” he said, adding: “We know that the Portuguese state was condemned again this year for degrading the prison system.” prison system at the European Court of Human Rights.”