Brown urges pay restraint after jail walkout

LONDON, Aug 30 (Reuters) Public sector workers must accept staggered pay rises or risk fuelling inflation, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today after a wildcat strike by prison guards in a pay row.

He dismissed union concerns over pay curbs, saying that uncontrolled wage rises could damage economic stability and lead to higher interest rates.

''We have succeeded in tackling inflation and having a stable economy because of discipline in pay over these last 10 years,'' Brown told the BBC. ''That discipline will have to continue.'' Brown decided when he was Chancellor that public sector workers would receive an average 1.9 percent pay rise this year, well below the inflation rate.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) said its members walked out because of the government's decision to implement a 2.5 per cent pay increase in stages, which it argued amounted to just a 1.9 per cent rise.

Nurses in England have been forced to accept a similarly staged rise and have voted to ballot for their own industrial action.

Brown refused to back down on the staggered rises, despite the walkout by thousands of prison guards in England and Wales.

''Staging of pay awards is an essential part of the economy to ensure we have stability,'' he said.

Union chiefs said they had no regrets over the 24-hour strike that disrupted jails across England and Wales.

''We hope we've sent a clear message to Gordon Brown, (Justice Secretary) Jack Straw and others that enough is enough,'' POA Chairman Colin Moses told the BBC. ''Yesterday's actions may focus their minds.'' Prison guards stopped work at more than 140 jails yesterday during their first national stoppage. It ended after the government won a High Court injunction.

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

Prisoner numbers have reached record levels of around 80,000, leading to some criminals being released early to ease overcrowding.

Talks between prison officers' leaders and the government are due to be held tomorrow.

REUTERS