Rodney stevens

Clarence Valley Council and the United Service Union USU have been before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission over a proposal to develop a program alongside Clarence Correctional Centre owner Serco for prisoners to work with council.

On Tuesday, August 15, the NSW Industrial Relations Commissioner Janet Clare McDonald discontinued proceedings after Clarence Valley Council CVC made three undertakings in relation to the potential program.

1. That any Serco program will not change or replace councils full time equivalent staff.
2. That Serco staff will not carry out activities contained within Council’s current staff work program as amended from time to time.
3. That Council will meet with USU representatives on August 29 to discuss the option moving forward.

Council recognises the USU’s concerns in relation to the potential program and will continue to seek the USU’s feedback if a formal proposal is made.

The meeting came after council issued a statement on Tuesday morning (August 15) announcing “key outdoor staff whose views are valued have been asked to provide feedback on a proposal to introduce a pilot program providing work experience to inmates of the Clarence Correctional Centre as part of a pre-release program.”

The purpose of the program is skills development and release preparedness, and ideas floated at a meeting with Serco in early August included repair and maintenance of park and recreation spaces.

Council says it sees the pilot program as an extension of the successful Rediscover Grafton project, which inmates were involved in to activate Price Street in recent months, but no details of the program have been finalised or agreed on.

CVC General Manager Laura Black said the pilot program is not intended to replace council staff, who are their most valuable resource.

Council is preparing to increase its Open Space workforce by up to six employees to accommodate increased workloads due to recent upgrades and the influx of tourists to the area.

But the United Services Union condemned the plan by council to use prisoner labour to complete work normally done by local government employees.

The Union took to the streets of Grafton to protest the plan on Tuesday and notified the NSW Industrial Relations Commission about the dispute on the matter which was heard by Commissioner McDonald.

In a statement issued last week, USU State Secretary Graeme Kelly said CVC was out of step with community expectations and any plans to use prisoners will be vigorously resisted.

“Local families and businesses in Grafton and South Grafton should be very leery about what is being proposed here,” he said.

“Most people would have a reasonable expectation that necessary local repairs and maintenance would be done by appropriately skilled and qualified council employees, not by inmates from the local gaol.”

Mr. Kelly said that local residents and businesspeople should take action to ensure that CVC backs down from its decision.

“If you share the Union’s concern that having prisoners roaming the city of Grafton doing council work is a mistake, please call your local elected representatives and tell them that your expectation is that council work would be done by council workers, not inmates,” he said.

“People power can force a backdown by this hopelessly out of touch local council.”