A wildcat strike by thousands of prison officers in England and Wales has been called off after the Government offered fresh talks in a bitter row over pay. Analysis: Are prison officers right to strike? Your view: Do we value our prison officers enough? The Prison Officers Association said 20,000 of its members took part in the walkout from 7am which took the Government and prison authorities completely by surprise. The Ministry of Justice obtained an injunction in the High Court against the POA earlier today which it expected would lead to a return to work.
However, most prison officers remained on strike for several hours after the court move and looked set to continued taking action until 7am tomorrow.
But the union's executive decided tonight to end the stoppage and said fresh talks will be held on Friday. As Government lawyers went to the High Court to uphold a legally-enforceable no-strike deal, a senior police officer warned the lack of any notice ahead of the walk-out could have put public safety at risk. Chief Constable Ken Jones said: "If this dispute continues there will be consequences for the police service and the neighbourhoods they serve. Chief officers will be obliged to divert staff away from core police work."
Prison Officers' Association members in Bristol had already returned to work this afternoon after holding a meeting outside the city's jail to consider the court injunction. Officers at HMP Birmingham temporarily broke their strike to help deal with a fire in the healthcare wing
In the midst of the strike, a group of prisoners scaled the roof of Liverpool Prison while around 200 prison officers stood outside the main gates of the large Walton-based jail. The dispute is over a Government decision to phase in a 2.5 per cent pay rise. But the POA said morale had collapsed among its 30,000 members because of overcrowding, staff shortages and cash cuts. advertisement Governors reported that the strike was "widespread" and the union said up to 90 per cent of its members who had been due on duty had joined the strike. The walkout meant that prisoners were locked in their cells on security grounds and visits were cancelled. Managers and some civilian staff were trying to ensure inmates received regular meals. At HMP Acklington a prisoner was found dead in his cell after officers arrived to let him out two hours later than usual. The Government triggered its "gold command" emergency procedures to prevent prisons becoming dangerous. The Ministry of Justice said the walkout was a breach of the Industrial Relations Act and that it would be seeking advice on "our next step". Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, said: "The strike action is deeply regrettable and wholly unjustifiable. "We have been actively trying to engage with the POA through talks and regular meetings and yet this action came without warning." Charles Bushell, general secretary of the Prison Governors' Association, also denounced the strike action. But he said the Government should not have staged the pay rise and said that governors shared many of the POA's grievances. The union had given the Government notice that it would pulling out of its agreement not to strike and the decision was made following a ballot.
Entrada de la Wormwood Scrubs Prison

Oficiales de las prisiones se dieron a la huelga en Reino Unido comenzando a las 7:00 a.m. (BST) de hoy. La huelga comenzó por un desacuerdo sobre el payroll.

La huelga, sin embargo, era ilegal y el Ministerio de Justicia emitió un requerimiento judicial de la corte suprema contra la huelga.

La huelga afectó a todas las prisioneros; varios prisioneros están en ''lockdown'', que significa que aquellos que conviven en una celda están encerrado en ellas.

Se reportó incluso que tres prisioneros habían llegado al techo de la Prisión de Liverpool, pero la situación fue contenida.

En Wormwood Scrubs Prison, cerca de 745 prisioneros fueron controlados por tan sólo 20 oficiales.

En Cardiff, los oficiales en huelga incluso fueron burlados por los prisioneros que gritaban: "Están rompiendo la ley".

La huelga fue suspendida por la Asociación de Oficiales de Prisiones (POA por sus siglas en inglés), luego de haber desafiado el requerimiento de justicia del Ministerio.