prison guards

French justice minister Nicole Belloubet on Thursday presented an improved offer on pay and security conditions to unions representing France's 28,000 prison guards who last week began an open-ended strike following a series of assaults by inmates, notably including detained Islamic militants.

An open-ended strike by French prison guards over pay and conditions, prompted by a series of assaults on staff in several jails across the country, will enter a second week on Monday, with unions calling for a ‘total blockage’ of establishments after government proposals to increase staff numbers were rejected at the weekend.

Violent clashes between prison guards and riot police erupted on Friday outside the vast Fleury-Mérogis prison near Paris on the fifth day of national industrial action by jail staff across France protesting at undermanning and security, as news emerged that inmates had attacked and wounded staff in a prison in Corsica.

A 24-year-old man assaulted two prison guards with a makeshift knife, severely wounding one of them, according to French authorities.