NO SECURE JOURNEY FOR IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTRE WORKERS

Written by: Ned K. on 27 June 2026

(Source: UWU Facebook page)

Detention Centre Officers who are members of United Workers Union have been taking rolling strike action for several weeks to win a real wage increase, safe staffing levels and better rosters.

Their employer is US owned Management and Training Corporation Pty Ltd and trades as Secure Journeys in its contract with the federal ALP government to operate 7 onshore Detention Centres and numerous "Alternative Places of Detention" in Australia. 

This US corporation operates private prisons in 8 US states and also operates in the UK and Egypt.

The nearly 1000 United Workers Union members across these Centres in Australia work unsafe rosters of up to 15 day blocks on 12 hour shifts. Fatigue is a serious safety issue as well as workload due to under staffing.

Secure Journeys' contract with the federal government hands them $2.3 billion so the more they can reduce staffing levels and labour costs, the more profits flow back the corporations head office in Utah in the US.

Immigration Detention Centre Officers had numerous workplace issues with the previous, outgoing contractor, UK multinational Serco, including a dispute over redundancy pay when Serco lost the contract.

The federal ALP government showed its allegiance to US imperialism by handing the new contract to Secure Journeys. 

The Detention Centre Officers have had anything but a "secure journey" working for the latest one of a number of overseas owned for-profit Immigration Detention Centre operators.

These workers are part of a growing number of services sectors workers who unashamedly see themselves as part of the working class in Australia. Like the "blue collar" mass manufacturing industry workers of decades ago in Australia, they face the same class enemy in the form of mainly US multinational corporations.

The type of work the Immigration Detention Officers perform is different from for a Ford or GM Holden worker of decades past, but the class nature of their struggles is the same.

The Detention Officers are determined to continue action until they win their key demands.

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