The Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti announced Tuesday, February 21 in Agen a “
historic
” evolution of the status of all prison officers, a reform welcomed by unions of prison guards who had been waiting for it for a long time.
“
As of January 1, 2024, the corps of
prison guards
will move to category B (of the public service) and that of officers to category A
,” the minister announced to the 215th promotion of the National School of Prison Administration ( Enap).
"
This is a historic step because it has long been claimed and totally deserved, you who embody the third security force of our country
", with 40,000 agents, he added.
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Improving “attractiveness”
This reform aims in particular to improve
the "attractiveness
" of prison professions, which has been facing a recruitment crisis for several years, and to "
create vocations
" while thousands of jobs are to be filled.
It will involve "
a significant index and compensation revaluation
", said Éric Dupond-Moretti.
According to the Chancellery, a grid “
is under discussion
” and a decision should be taken “
at the end of May at the beginning of June
”.
“
We have not yet announced a revaluation figure
”, underlined the Minister of Transformation and the Public Service Stanislas Guérini, present in Agen, who wishes that the reform can come into force at the beginning of 2024.
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In January 2019, this same statutory change, then defended by several trade unions, was refused by Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet on the grounds that it "would have the effect of prohibiting the recruitment (as
supervisors) of people who do not have the baccalaureate
”, diploma essential to be a candidate for a post of category B. About a third of the current prison guards do not have this diploma, according to the ministry.
Creation of training centers
Éric Dupond-Moretti, however, indicated to the new promotion of Enap that the reform would make it possible to organize the recruitment of contract agents, category C, without the compulsory baccalaureate, to "assist" the prison
guards
.
They could carry out, according to the Chancellery, specific missions such as the surveillance of visiting rooms.
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The Minister also announced the creation of “
several interregional training centers
” for prison officers, whose initial training remains at Enap.
There could be "
three or four
", according to the ministry.
“
This is great recognition and good news for the staff
”, estimated Agen Emmanuel Baudin, general secretary of FO Penitentiary, the first trade union in the profession, who now wishes “
that the budget follow
”.
“
We asked for the same grid (index) as the police with in particular a monthly mastery bonus.
This is what they got when they created contract workers in the national police
,” he added.
The national secretary of the Ufap-Unsa union Wilfried Fonck considered that it was now necessary to ensure that “
this major reform really expected by the personnel in the field is beneficial to them
”.
"
You really have to take advantage of it to go beyond (the financial aspect) and redefine the supervisor's missions
," he added.
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