UK prison guards challenge Brown with strike

LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) Thousands of British prison officers threw down a challenge to the government today by launching a surprise 24-hour strike, their first ever national stoppage.

The Prison Officers' Association (POA), which had previously kept to a no-strike agreement, said its members had walked out from more than 140 jails in England and Wales in a pay dispute.

The walkout was a direct challenge to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has pledged to keep a tight clamp on public sector pay rises to restrain inflation, and may point to more labour troubles ahead for his government.

Some prison guards went back to work after the government won a court order against the stoppage, but many defied the order and pledged to stay out until tomorrow morning.

The Justice Ministry, which labelled the strike illegal and unjustifiable, said it expected prison officers to return to work immediately.

The POA said it acted because the government had decided to implement a 2.5 percent pay increase in stages, so that the real rise was just 1.9 percent.

''Prison officers have never called a national strike before but it just shows how morale has slumped in the last few years,'' said Steve Gillan, POA national executive committee member.

After the walkout, prisoners were confined to their cells but the government said it had contingency measures in place to ensure security was maintained and prisoners were fed.

The number of prisoners in Britain has hit a record 80,000 in recent years, and some criminals have been released early to ease overcrowding.

PAY RESTRAINT Brown, who took over from Tony Blair as prime minister in June, decided in his previous job as finance minister that public sector workers would receive an average 1.9 percent pay rise this year, well below the inflation rate.

The pay crackdown angered trade unions, traditional backers of Brown's Labour Party, creating expectations of a difficult winter for the government.

But union sources say the chance of widespread strikes has fallen recently as the government acted to sweeten wage deals for low-paid public sector workers.

Expectations of an early election this year or next have increased because polls show Brown has a commanding lead over the opposition Conservatives. Widespread disruption from strikes could be electorally disastrous for him.

Economists say Brown's determination to keep public sector pay rises in line with the government's inflation target of 2 percent was proving untenable.

''Combined with the steady acceleration in the cost of living, the risks to wage growth are all in one direction -- up,'' said Alan Clarke, an economist at BNP Paribas.

Reuters SY GC2336