In a major victory for Community, Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation Ellie Reeves has used #HiddenHeroesDay to announce that under a Labour government all justice and custodial sector workers will now be eligible for long service medals.
#HiddenHeroesDay is a national day, on 29 September each year, paying tribute to the #HiddenHeroes working in UK prisons, IRCs, probation and youth justice services.
Commenting on the announcement, Adrian Axtell, National Officer at Community, the union for the privatised justice sector, said:
“Our members work day in, day out – often putting themselves at considerable risk – to keep the public safe. For that they deserve to be recognised.
We’ve long been calling for greater recognition for those working across the privatised justice sector. Those who work in private prisons work equally as hard, in an equally challenging environment, as those in the public sector and we believe they should get equal recognition. The Labour Party’s commitments will be extremely welcome news to our members.”
The full announcement can be seen here. For more information on #HiddenHeroesDay, click here. To see more about Community’s work in the justice and custodial sector, click here.
If you are a member of Community and need help or advice, please contact us at help@community-tu.org or on 0800 389 6332.
© Community Trade Union 2025
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