Prison workers denounce security gaps after the crime at Mas d'Enric

BarcelonaOne year after the murder at Mas d'Enric, the security reinforcement has not reached many corners of Catalonia's prisons, according to several workers consulted by ARA. The new government's first move regarding prisons was to remove inmates convicted of blood crimes. Jobs where they might have contact with dangerous tools. Beyond kitchens, the ban extended to, among others, production workshops and jobs outside the modules, such as maintenance and gardening. However, the restrictions on the jobs a prisoner can perform based on their criminal record did not include the training courses that inmates can take in the prison itself. This has allowed situations such as a prisoner being able to study a welding or cooking course, but then being unable to practice this trade in prison.

A measure that Justice announced shortly after an inmate killed a worker has also not been applied to most kitchens: tie the knives to the boards to prevent further incidentsThirteen months after the murder, the knives were only secured in this way in the Mas d'Enric kitchen. The next steps will be Brians 1 and 2, at the end of May, according to the forecast given by management at the last meeting of the health and safety committee of the Center for Reinsertion Initiatives (CIRE), the public company under the Department of Justice that, among other things, manages prison kitchens. On the other hand, sources present at the meeting confirm that no date was set for the kitchens of the other prisons.

For its part, the Department of Justice has declined to comment on any of the safety gaps pointed out by the workers. However, as ARA previously explained, the department has just relaxed the requirements established by the circular for prisoners to be able to work in prison. This means that treatment boards will be able to reduce by half the time that must pass from the last disciplinary procedure before a prisoner can return to work.

Production and training workshops

Until now, kitchens have been the focus of the security measures implemented after the crime at Mas d'Enric, and this prison was the first to implement them all. Among other things, prison kitchens switched to purchasing pre-cut food to minimize the use of knives, and staff was expanded to ensure that no worker is ever alone during a shift.

In contrast, dangerous tools have not been tied to cutting boards in most production workshops, where inmates work for CIRE (Centre for Revenue Service) inside the prison for wages, producing objects of all kinds, from electrical boxes to rubble sacks. Depending on the production process, workrooms contain items such as screwdrivers, saws, and welding tools. Knives and other tools have also not been tied to the vocational training workshops, where prisoners can study different trades, including cooking courses, where access to prisoners with serious crimes has not been restricted, as was the case for work.

"Prevention should be for everyone"

The workers supervising inmates in the workshops are also CIRE employees, distinct from the blue-uniformed prison officers who were at the center of the protests following the murder of Núria, who was an employee of the same public company. CIRE also employs the workers who provide training in juvenile justice centers, where minors between the ages of 14 and 18 who have committed crimes are held. "Preventive measures should apply to everyone," claims Josep Musté of the IAC-Cataque after the measures focused on prisons. In juvenile justice centers, instead of blue-uniformed prison officers, there are private security workers, and union representatives warn of insufficient staff. At the L'Alzina center alone, they state, two security guards are in charge of five workshops and six classrooms, with one trainer in each and a total capacity of about 70 minors, while at Can Llupià there is only one security guard for seven workshops.

Another concern among these workers regarding security relates to the number of staff. For example, in an electrical box production workshop in Quatre Camins, nearly seventy inmates can be crowded together under the supervision of two trainers and one officer, according to UGT representatives on the CIRE works council. Other examples presented by the workers themselves include a clothing workshop where large scissors and box cutters are used, which brings together around twenty inmates per trainer, and a clothing and assembly workshop where more than 40 inmates are under the supervision of two workers.

"In the shadow" of labor improvements

Although the protests following the crime led to a labor agreement for prison officers, the feeling among CIRE workers surveyed is that they have been "overshadowed" by these improvements. Union representatives from the works council, headed by the UGT (Union of Workers' Unions) and also represented by IAC-Catac and the PCi Platform, criticize the fact that their collective agreement has been outdated for years and that they have been unable to negotiate an update with the department. "They tell us they are not authorized to negotiate agreements because there is no budget," criticize UGT representatives, who attribute the situation to a "lack of political will," which, they emphasize, has existed "to meet the needs of other groups."