THE National Trade Union Centre (Natuc) is warning the Government against using convicted inmates to clean and maintain public spaces at the expense of more than 40,000 displaced workers awaiting job opportunities.

General secretary Michael Annisette, in a statement, said while Natuc supports the rehabilitation of offenders, any programme involving inmate labour must equip prisoners with skills and qualifications that can help them secure lawful employment after their release. He said rehabilitation must not become a means of providing the State with a source of cheap or substitute labour while unemployed and displaced workers remain without jobs.

“Rehabilitation cannot become a convenient source of cheap or substitute labour at the expense of unemployed and displaced workers,” Annisette said in a statement yesterday.