Prison staff protest against overcrowdedness, low pay, understaffing

Zoran Remic, director of Dob prison, said that he supported his staff's protest as "an emergency call for help", adding the situation at Dob is "truly unbearable".

"The maximum security ward is at 136% capacity today, while some other wards are at up to 175% capacity," he said in front of the prison in the southeast of Slovenia.

Boštjan Zakrajšek, head of Ljubljana prison trade unions, said around 50% of prisoners are foreigners. Many have been imprisoned for smuggling illegal migrants.

Prison Administration's head Bojan Majcen said there have never been as many foreigners in Slovenian prisons. While the inflow has somewhat decreased recently, the problem will be felt years to come.

As for the shortage of staff, the situation is direst for judicial police officers, that is prison guards. "There are currently 25% fewer than in 2022," said Remic.

This means more overtime for the existing employees, while it also leads to cancellation of transport to court hearings, he explained.

"It's never been easy, but this year it's really alarming," said Remic.

Addressing the protesters in front of Dob prison, union leader Leon Lobe urged the government to act or else they will step up the pressure, but he did not specify.

He said the status of prison staff had been deteriorating over the years. "Our work is no longer valued and appreciated, and above all we are being neglected."

They demand a collective agreement for the prison sector, but unionist Frančišek Verk said that the government is not in favour of it.

Their work should also be properly remunerated with bonuses under the existing collective agreement for the public sector.

"We want a wage that is comparable with that of police officers and soldiers, who get more bonuses than us," said Zakrajšek.

They also want pay anomalies stemming from the recent public sector wage reform to be eliminated and the norms and standards already been drawn up implemented.

Prison guard Robert Čelič said a prison guard gets EUR 820 in net monthly pay at the start of their career, while now that he is about to retire he gets EUR 1,200.

He is not sure how much he will get this month when wages will be paid out under the recent wage reform, but fears he could get "even EUR 100 gross less" than so far.

As for the shortage of staff, Lobe said the situation is worst for prison guards, instructors, expert and support staff, which the government should address at once.

It should use all legal means to tackle overcrowdedness, such as a "transfer of imprisoned foreigners to their home countries, and the maximum use of parole, amnesties and other measures".

He said that Ljubljana prisons alone are at least 50 prison guards short, while the country's system would need at least 30% staff more than it has.

Justice Minister Andreja Katič attended the protest in front of the prison in Povšetova Street in Ljubljana, where one slogan read "Government, welcome to Povšetova".

Katič said she understood the grievances, saying "the situation has been dragging on for years, and it's right that they speak up and highlight it".

She met with Prison Administration representatives to discuss the issues on Wednesday, when they agreed to analyse the wages by next week. She also hopes to meet the trade unions as soon as possible to design systemic measures.

However, she regretted the protest, saying, "I never thought that as a society we would have such full prisons, that we would have more and more crime".

She partly attributed it to Slovenia being on the migration route, and expressed hope the EU's migration policy and a new prison in Dobrunje could help solve the overcrowdedness.

"Owercrowdedness and the shortage of staff are the key problem," agreed the Prison Administration's head Majcen.