❓ A WA parliamentary question reveals a dispute between prison officers and the Ministry of Justice over enterprise agreement delays and staffing arrangements, leading to industrial action and impacting staff morale. The dispute was temporarily resolved to allow for negotiations.
AnsweredQoN 660Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(2) What are the details of each dispute? (3) How long has each dispute existed? (4) Are these disputes having any effect on the morale or motivation of prison staff? Answered on 12 October 2000 The Minister
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
12 October 2000
Response time
36 days
(1) Since 1 January 2000, there has been one dispute where prison officers have taken industrial action. There have been no disputes involving industrial action by other staff employed in the Ministry of Justice. (2) On 31 July 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union directed its members to abstain from any participation in all Prison Improvement Programs and or Projects until further notice. The union cited concerns over delays in finalising an enterprise agreement and the Ministry of Justice strategy regarding roster vacancies and staffing arrangements as the reason for its decision to impose the bans. (3) On 18 September 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union lifted all sanctions and bans for an initial period of 14 days to allow the commencement of enterprise bargaining negotiations following a proposal to the union by the Ministry of Justice on 1 September 2000. (4) There is inevitably some negative affect on staff morale resulting from disputes of this nature.
(3) How long has each dispute existed? (4) Are these disputes having any effect on the morale or motivation of prison staff? Answered on 12 October 2000 The Minister Replied: (1) Since 1 January 2000, there has been one dispute where prison officers have taken industrial action. There have been no disputes involving industrial action by other staff employed in the Ministry of Justice. (2) On 31 July 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union directed its members to abstain from any participation in all Prison Improvement Programs and or Projects until further notice. The union cited concerns over delays in finalising an enterprise agreement and the Ministry of Justice strategy regarding roster vacancies and staffing arrangements as the reason for its decision to impose the bans. (3) On 18 September 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union lifted all sanctions and bans for an initial period of 14 days to allow the commencement of enterprise bargaining negotiations following a proposal to the union by the Ministry of Justice on 1 September 2000. (4) There is inevitably some negative affect on staff morale resulting from disputes of this nature.
(4) Are these disputes having any effect on the morale or motivation of prison staff? Answered on 12 October 2000 The Minister Replied: (1) Since 1 January 2000, there has been one dispute where prison officers have taken industrial action. There have been no disputes involving industrial action by other staff employed in the Ministry of Justice. (2) On 31 July 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union directed its members to abstain from any participation in all Prison Improvement Programs and or Projects until further notice. The union cited concerns over delays in finalising an enterprise agreement and the Ministry of Justice strategy regarding roster vacancies and staffing arrangements as the reason for its decision to impose the bans. (3) On 18 September 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union lifted all sanctions and bans for an initial period of 14 days to allow the commencement of enterprise bargaining negotiations following a proposal to the union by the Ministry of Justice on 1 September 2000. (4) There is inevitably some negative affect on staff morale resulting from disputes of this nature.
Answered on 12 October 2000 The Minister Replied: (1) Since 1 January 2000, there has been one dispute where prison officers have taken industrial action. There have been no disputes involving industrial action by other staff employed in the Ministry of Justice. (2) On 31 July 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union directed its members to abstain from any participation in all Prison Improvement Programs and or Projects until further notice. The union cited concerns over delays in finalising an enterprise agreement and the Ministry of Justice strategy regarding roster vacancies and staffing arrangements as the reason for its decision to impose the bans. (3) On 18 September 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union lifted all sanctions and bans for an initial period of 14 days to allow the commencement of enterprise bargaining negotiations following a proposal to the union by the Ministry of Justice on 1 September 2000. (4) There is inevitably some negative affect on staff morale resulting from disputes of this nature.
(3) How long has each dispute existed? (4) Are these disputes having any effect on the morale or motivation of prison staff? Answered on 12 October 2000 The Minister Replied: (1) Since 1 January 2000, there has been one dispute where prison officers have taken industrial action. There have been no disputes involving industrial action by other staff employed in the Ministry of Justice. (2) On 31 July 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union directed its members to abstain from any participation in all Prison Improvement Programs and or Projects until further notice. The union cited concerns over delays in finalising an enterprise agreement and the Ministry of Justice strategy regarding roster vacancies and staffing arrangements as the reason for its decision to impose the bans. (3) On 18 September 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union lifted all sanctions and bans for an initial period of 14 days to allow the commencement of enterprise bargaining negotiations following a proposal to the union by the Ministry of Justice on 1 September 2000. (4) There is inevitably some negative affect on staff morale resulting from disputes of this nature.
(4) Are these disputes having any effect on the morale or motivation of prison staff? Answered on 12 October 2000 The Minister Replied: (1) Since 1 January 2000, there has been one dispute where prison officers have taken industrial action. There have been no disputes involving industrial action by other staff employed in the Ministry of Justice. (2) On 31 July 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union directed its members to abstain from any participation in all Prison Improvement Programs and or Projects until further notice. The union cited concerns over delays in finalising an enterprise agreement and the Ministry of Justice strategy regarding roster vacancies and staffing arrangements as the reason for its decision to impose the bans. (3) On 18 September 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union lifted all sanctions and bans for an initial period of 14 days to allow the commencement of enterprise bargaining negotiations following a proposal to the union by the Ministry of Justice on 1 September 2000. (4) There is inevitably some negative affect on staff morale resulting from disputes of this nature.
Answered on 12 October 2000 The Minister Replied: (1) Since 1 January 2000, there has been one dispute where prison officers have taken industrial action. There have been no disputes involving industrial action by other staff employed in the Ministry of Justice. (2) On 31 July 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union directed its members to abstain from any participation in all Prison Improvement Programs and or Projects until further notice. The union cited concerns over delays in finalising an enterprise agreement and the Ministry of Justice strategy regarding roster vacancies and staffing arrangements as the reason for its decision to impose the bans. (3) On 18 September 2000 the Western Australian Prison Officers Union lifted all sanctions and bans for an initial period of 14 days to allow the commencement of enterprise bargaining negotiations following a proposal to the union by the Ministry of Justice on 1 September 2000. (4) There is inevitably some negative affect on staff morale resulting from disputes of this nature.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.