In an attempt to force the hand of the government in negotiations regarding the numbers of prison officers employed in public sector prisons, more than 10,000 prison officers have taken part in a 24-hour \u201cprotest action\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is illegal for prison officers to strike, but officers stopped work at midnight on November 15. Prisons went into \u201clockdown\u201d \u2013 operating on skeleton staffing levels. A number of governor-grade staff (operational managers) undertook prison officer duties and many prisoners were left locked in their cells for much of the day.<\/p>\n The Prison Officers Association (POA) called for the action after losing patience with the justice secretary, Liz Truss, regarding a planned meeting to discuss their concerns regarding prison officer safety. According to the POA press release<\/a>, the latest offer on prison officer \u201cwell-being\u201d was \u201cunacceptable\u201d. The \u201cprotest action\u201d was therefore intended to send a message to the government about the importance of engaging immediately in further negotiations so that a \u201csensible solution\u201d could be reached.<\/p>\n The relationship between the government and POA has traditionally been one of hostility and mistrust \u2013 so much so that in 1992 a previous Conservative administration tried to abolish the POA<\/a>. There has, however, been a coincidence of interests and a shared understanding of the problems confronting prisons in the past few months. This unlikely alliance appears to have weakened if not broken down completely in the run-up to the industrial action.<\/p>\nFractious relations<\/h2>\n