Statement attributable to Godfrey Moase, Allied Industries Director, United Workers Union:
United Workers Union detention centre members work in sometimes-dangerous and often-stressful environments, and that’s something we have witnessed in today’s incident.
Since MTC Secure Journeys took over the detention centre contract earlier this year, United Workers Union members have raised serious issues around unsafe staffing levels at detention centres nationally.
We are in the process of offering support to our members at Villawood detention centre, because this incident highlights the unfortunate fact workers put their lives on the line in these situations.
Issues raised by United Workers Union on behalf of members working at MTC Secure Journeys include:
- Reductions in staffing to unsafe levels.
- Changes to written protocols about staffing levels for certain activities or posts, or the complete absence of written protocols for certain activities or posts.
- Issues with rosters or even issues with providing rosters.
United Workers Union’s concerns about unsafe staffing levels extend to significant changes in how the detention network’s transport and escort team is operated and staffed.
In any case, as we have seen today, it’s the union’s view that two officers are insufficient for this difficult and dangerous role.
We would expect these concerns to be thoroughly addressed in a formal investigation into the circumstances of this incident.
Unsafe staffing levels and changes to protocols, or the complete lack of them, have the potential to create serious ongoing issues around the safety of workers and detainees.
In the case of MTC Secure Journeys, United Workers Union will continue to actively pursue the contractor to rectify what we see as serious, persistent and dangerous issues with unsafe staff levels.
As always, it’s the position of our members that workers’ safety even in a difficult environment should never be put at risk, and unsafe staffing levels need to be urgently addressed.