Hundreds of prison workers protest for better security measures

Hundreds of Catalan prison workers demonstrated on Friday in Barcelona to demand better security measures for staff in prisons.

The demonstrators marched from the old La Model prison in the Catalan capital and headed to Plaça Sant Jaume, where the government headquarters is located.

During the march, they criticized the agreement signed in April by the Department of Justice and the unions UGT, CCOO, Intersindical and IAC-CATAC.

That deal saw prison unions cancel two days of strikes, after approximately €30 million worth of labor and safety improvements for prison workers were agreed, including an increase in wages, better working hours, more safety measures, and more training. 

Demonstrators on Friday also called for the resignation of the Minister of Justice, Gemma Ubasart, and the Secretary of Penal Measures, Amand Calderó, for the killing of a cook in the Mas d'Enric prison by an inmate. 

The protest was the largest gathering in a single point since the death of the worker on March 13, with staff members from all Catalan prisons in attendance.

Local police put the number at around 400 demonstrators, while unions placed the figure between 800-1,200.

In front of the government building, protesters placed their banners on the ground and threw white flowers on them as a sign of condolence for the killing of the Mas d'Enric cook. 

Alberto Gómez, a representative from the CSIF union, urged Esquerra Republicana not to manage the Ministry of Justice in the next government and demanded other parties who could govern change prison policy.

According to Gómez, inmates currently have a feeling of "impunity," and the prison worker wants more instruments to firmly apply prison regulations, such as aerosols.

Francesc López, from ACAIP, argued that they do not want more money, as the unions have achieved in the previous deal, but more security, and that they want to return home "alive" after work.

Pablo Martínez, the nephew of the cook killed at Mas d'Enric, again asked for political responsibility for the death of his aunt.