Another call for help

Justice Watch representative: “The prison system is finished!”

A loud cry for help is coming from the prisons.

(Bild: Huber Patrick)

The prison service in Austria has recorded more departures than ever before. Difficult inmates, significant overcrowding and staff shortages are leading to exceptional situations. The union is struggling to organize a crisis summit with Justice Minister Alma Zadić (Greens). Will she listen to this cry for help?

There have already been several cries for help from Austrian prisons. Overcrowding and far too few staff are putting a huge strain on the situation. Trade unionists are once again sounding the alarm: "The prison system is finished!", they fear, "unless Justice Minister Alma Zadić finally takes action."

What is going wrong? "In the last two months in particular, the number of guards leaving the service has risen again. The reasons for this vary. Some move to other professions, others join the police," says Norbert Dürnberger from the prison guards' union. Together with union chairman Albin Simma, he is once again calling on the Minister of Justice to hold a crisis summit. 

Fewer and fewer are doing training
"We have training classes that should normally have 20 students in them. But in some cases, there are only ten students in them. And not all of them continue," says Dürnberger. This problem has been going on for months despite intensive recruiting measures. Figures underpin the misery: In the last two months alone, around 15 people across Austria have resigned.

Demanding profession
"If you add those who are retiring, we're probably looking at 25 people. The number of people who quit exceeds the number who join many times over," underlines Dürnberger. The job is demanding because the inmates are becoming increasingly difficult, the overload is evident and the working hours are almost impossible to reconcile with family life. At least two weekends a month, plus night shifts. Many can no longer cope with this. The situation is particularly grim in the prisons in Stein (Lower Austria) and Innsbruck, as well as in the Graz-Jakomini prison. 

Mario Raudner from the staff representatives at Jakomini correctional facility can confirm this: "In the last three months alone, three officers have left us again." The reasons for this are the high number of new recruits, the increasingly violent prisoners and the frequent lack of support from superiors. 

In the last three months alone, another three officers have left us.

JW-Personalvertreter Mario Raudner

Some businesses have to be closed
The situation in Graz-Karlau prison is much better. The number of resignations here is limited. But: "Of course, we are struggling with a lack of staff, which means that we sometimes have to close businesses, which means that the inmates are less busy," says prison manager Gerhard Derler when asked by the "Krone" newspaper.

The baby boomer generation is retiring, and the new heavy labor regulation means that even more employees are leaving. There are also special cases: "A particularly difficult inmate is currently in a prison and has to be guarded by three officers at all times. Of course, they are then absent during ongoing operations," explains Derler. 

If our Minister of Justice values the execution of sentences and measures, as she repeatedly emphasizes, I expect that all those responsible will be brought together immediately to take immediate action.

Justizwache-Gewerkschafter Norbert Dürnberger

Solutions urgently needed
How can this problem be alleviated? Dürnberger: "We definitely need additional prison places. This will only be possible with new buildings, and politicians will have to find the money. In any case, the number of prisoners will not decrease. To make the profession more attractive, we need benefits, some of which can be implemented quickly."

Such as the climate ticket for all guards, as already exists for other occupational groups. The union is also calling for higher pay in the form of a monthly prison bonus, severance pay similar to the ASVG system and more flexible working hours. However, these can only be achieved with more staff.

Dürnberger: "If our Minister of Justice values the execution of sentences and measures, which is repeatedly emphasized, I expect that all those responsible will be brought together immediately to take immediate action. We would also like to see a change in the admission procedure as well as a rethink and, if necessary, an adjustment of the less successful recruiting measures."