A union has accused the security contractor Serco of heavy-handed tactics in workplace negotiations, and has warned that any future industrial dispute would have a “disastrous effect” on detention centres.
Serco contractors who are part of the United Voice union were due to begin protected industrial action on Friday after six months of negotiations on workplace conditions failed to yield results.
They were planning to hold bans on changes of rosters, including the scrapping of 15-minute handover meetings at the change of shifts, alterations to rostered days off, and abolishing new fitness tests during annual training courses.
“The bans really said that we want the status quo to remain while negotiations are ongoing,” the national president of United Voice, Jo Schofield, told Guardian Australia.
“Staff also need good systems of information flow in the centres so they can provide a safe environment for detainees. They also need consistent management practices. That’s not happening,” she said.
Serco responded to news of the ban by threatening to stop paying staff members who took part in the action.
“If an employee advises that they intend to participate in a work ban, we will comply with the Fair Work Act and provide adequate notice of our response. This can include notice that no payment will be made during a partial work ban,” a Serco spokesman, Paul Shaw, told Guardian Australia.
Schofield said the union then withdrew the bans after concerns it could lock out staff and start a major industrial dispute.
“[Serco’s actions] could have provoked an industrial dispute … It was a sign of disrespect to union workers who voted to take protected industrial action,” she said. “It’s a bit of a sign of employer militancy.”
Schofield warned that any industrial dispute “would have had a disastrous effect on detention centres and detainees” who, she said, were being used as pawns.
Negotiations are continuing; a meeting between Serco and the union is planned for next week.
In January Serco secured a five-year contract worth up to $1.4bn to run Australia’s mainland detention centres, as well as the centre on Christmas Island.
Shaw said operations would not be affected by any potential industrial action.
“In the event of industrial action, we have sound contingency plans in place to ensure continuity of service to the people in our care,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said the disputes over workplace conditions were a matter for the company and the unions to work out.
The office of the opposition spokesman on immigration, Richard Marles, did not reply to Guardian Australia’s requests for comment.
The union said that working conditions in detention centres were increasingly volatile.
“There are huge differences between being an officer in a detention centre and being a prison officer. People who are incarcerated because they broke the law know why are there and they know how long their imprisonment will last. They have opportunities to rehabilitate. It is not like that in a detention centre,” Schofield said.
“Detainees are often very uncertain about how long they will be there and they have limited access to support. Our members work 12-hour shifts. They get spat on, punched, pushed, verbally abused and they see self-harm.
“Serco does not seem to understand the impact on staff of this work. Time after time following major and minor incidents they have failed to follow their own procedures for debriefings, medical follow-up and ongoing support of staff. Frankly, it’s not good enough.”
Shaw said Serco had systems in place to help employees.
“We’re committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of our people. We have a range of measures in place to support them, including a 24-hour employee assistance program. We are committed to continuous improvement and have a robust record of enhancing safety in our workplaces, year on year,” he said.
Earlier this month detention centre staff quelled a week-long disturbance within the Villawood detention centre.
Dutton said at the time that the industrial dispute between detention centre staff and Serco had no impact on the disturbance.
