By Kisean Joseph
Junior Prison Officers at His Majesty’s Prison (HMP) have suspended their industrial action following intervention from the Public Safety Minister Sir Steadroy Benjamin who visited the protesters on Monday and requested a two-week grace period to address their concerns.
According to Junior Officer Joyann Bright-Etienne, the minister promised to resolve outstanding payments by February 16, and a meeting has been scheduled for next Monday to discuss the issues.
“We will be meeting with the minister on the 10th, Bright-Etienne told Observer. “He [promised] us that he will rectify the issues of the outstanding monies by the 16th of this month. However, it’s not just the financial issue that we have. Staffing, uniforms, the treatment of officers — it is just a wide array of issues.”
She warned that they would resume their industrial action if the promises made by the Minister weren’t kept.
“If the monies are not in our account by the 16th, we will be back out, and no promises will get us to stop this time,” she declared.
The protest began Monday when officers demonstrated outside HMP over several grievances. Central to their concerns is an unpaid $400 monthly salary increase for non-established junior officers that was approved by Cabinet for November 2024, but had not been implemented. While Superintendent of Prisons Trevor Pennyfeather suggested the increase be granted across all ranks to maintain appropriate salary gaps, the situation remains unresolved.
The officers protest also included severe understaffing issues, with as few as two officers sometimes supervising 250 inmates, and staff working shifts up to 32 hours without proper rest facilities. They also highlighted inadequate training, particularly for handling mentally ill inmates, despite having access to some non-lethal equipment.
The prison administration has acknowledged these staffing challenges, with Cabinet approval to recruit 40 new officers. Superintendent Pennyfeather expressed hope for a swift resolution, and maintained that “this situation cannot continue.”