POA (trade union)
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| Full name | POA: The Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers |
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| Founded | 1939 |
| Members | 37,500 |
| Affiliation | TUC, ICTU, STUC, TUCG, NSSN |
| Key people |
Steve Gillan, General Secretary Mike Rolfe, National Chairman Ralph Valerio, National Vice Chairman Andy Darken, Deputy General Secretary |
| Office location | London, England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Website | www |
The POA: The Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers (formerly the Prison Officers' Association) is a trade union in the United Kingdom. It currently has a membership of 33,500.
The roots of the POA can be traced back to the launch in 1910 of the underground magazine, Prison Officers' Magazine, under the editorship of Fred Ludlow, the magazine was otherwise known as the 'Red-Un' after the colour of its cover. After the editorship was taken over by E. R. Ramsey (Hubert Witchard) in 1915 and a more radical tone was adopted, this led in 1916 to the formation of the Prison Officers' Federation, which affiliated to the Labour Party in the same year. By July 1915, around 500 out of a total of 4000 staff had joined the union, but many became disillusioned and left after the POF failed to win a petition for a war time bonus for prison officers. Subsequently, the POF amalgamated in 1918 with its rival union the National Union of Police and Prison Officers (NUPPO) which had been formed in 1913.
However, following police strikes in 1918 & 1919, where 70 prison officers at Wormwood Scrubs and a few from Birmingham joined the strike, all of whom were dismissed, trade unions of police and prison workers were made illegal. Instead, a representative body, the Prison Officer's Representation Board was created, but this was seen as an inadequate measure to defend prison officers' interests. This was appointed by and responsible to the Home Office, could not call a strike and were not permitted to have formal links with other labour organisations through the Trades Union Congress or Scottish Trades Union Congress. Whilst the Representation Board failed to secure most of improvements in prison officers conditions it argued for, it did secure the replacement of the term 'warder' by 'officer'.
The above situation began to change in 1936, when a group of prison officers, including Harley Cronin, who had become weary of the failure of Representative Boards to win concessions were elected to the Central Board. One of the first moves of this group was to procure the services of William Brown and Len White of the Civil Service Clerical Association to help them negotiate with the Prisons Service through a series of secret meetings. The Central Board members made a formal demand to the Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, that Prison Officers should have the right to appeal to an Independent Arbitration Board against employers' decisions and to have access to outside assistance in doing so. These demands were recognised and Brown and White, began formally pushing for the right to use the Civil Service Arbitration Tribunal, which was also conceded. In celebration of winning these demands prison officers held a meeting on 5 April 1938 at the Blue Gliss Hall in Acton.
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Wikipedia