Staff at prisons across the country walked out on 13 February for a one-hour protest to draw attention to what they say is an alarming situation due to severely overcrowded prisons, staff shortages and low pay.

The protesters demanded the government resolve the staffing shortages, pay staff fairly, relieve overcrowding and provide a safe, healthy and financially stable working environment.

Slovenian prisons have been facing record overcrowding in recent years, largely because of an increased number of foreigners apprehended for smuggling migrants.

There are currently 1,775 prisoners in Slovenian incarceration facilities, of whom 52% are foreigners, according to the Prison Administration. They are guarded by around 550 prison officers.

The government adopted several measures to alleviate the situation last year, including redeploying former prison officers and suspending prison sentences, but they did little to improve the situation.

"Unbearable" situation

Addressing protesters in front of the country's largest prison, Dob in the southeast, trade union leader Leon Lobe urged the government to act or else they will step up pressure.

He said the status of prison staff had been deteriorating for years. "Our work is no longer valued and appreciated, we are being neglected."

Director of Dob prison, Zoran Remic, backed the protest as "an emergency call for help", describing the situation at Dob as "truly unbearable".

"The maximum security ward is at 136% capacity today, while some other wards are at up to 175% capacity," he said, pointing to a severe shortage of prison guards in particular.

"There are currently 25% fewer than in 2022," he said. This means the existing staff need to put in that much more overtime, while transports to court hearings are being cancelled for lack of staff.

"It's never been easy, but this year it's really alarming. At this very moment we don't know how we'll provide all the urgent services this year," the Dob prison boss said.

Calls for better pay, measures to reduce prison population

Speaking outside the Ljubljana prison, the head of the in-house trade union Boštjan Zakrajšek said the staff were overworked because the prison system was bursting at the seams.

He estimated that Ljubljana prison alone is short of at least 50 judicial police officers, while at national level the system is at least 30% understaffed.

"We want wages comparable to police and army officers. They get more bonuses than we do, we want them too," the unionist said.

They demand a separate collective agreement for the prison sector to improve the status of prison staff, arguing that the public sector pay reform introduced this year would leave them worse off.

They also urged the government to use all legal means to address overcrowding, such as a "transfer of imprisoned foreigners to their home countries, and the maximum use of parole, amnesties and other measures".

Minister promises systemic solutions

Justice Minister Andreja Katič came to listen to the staff's demands in person in front of the Ljubljana prison in Povšetova Street, where one slogan read "Government, welcome to Povšetova".

She said she understood the grievances of the prison staff, saying problems "have been dragging on for years", but regretted the protest.

She promised systemic solutions to be adopted to tackle the situation. She hopes the EU's migration policy and a new prison under construction in Dobrunje near Ljubljana could help reduce overcrowding.

Earlier she said prison officers had gained four salary brackets in comparison to other police officers under the pay reform, but also that an analysis of the wages would be made to detect potential shortcomings.