ABSTRACT
The early history of unionisation in the prison service can be traced back to the formation in 1916 of the Prison Officers Federation, which affiliated to the Labour Party. Previously, the service operated along highly military style lines and the leadership refused to recognise that staff had often genuine grievances which were being unheard by the authorities. The POF appears to have been short lived and probably heavily crushed as the next attempt to unionise in this sector led to only limited support. Some 70 or so prison officers joined up in 1917 with members of the police to form the National Union of Police and Prison Officers [qv]. All of these prison officers were dismissed from the service. Following a police strike in 1919, trade unions of police and prison workers were made illegal. Bodies called Representative Boards were created, but these fulfilled only some of the functions of trade unions. They were appointed by and responsible to the Home Office, could not call a strike and were not permitted to have formal links with other labour organisations through the Trades Union Congress or Scottish Trades Union Congress.
