Bikie fight should sound warning

A brawl between rival bikie gang members at a Sydney prison should sound a warning about the New South Wales government's privatisation plans, the union says.

Public Services Association (PSA) prison officers vocational branch chairman Matt Bindley said five officers were injured in the fight at Parklea on Friday.

Members of the Notorious gang attacked a Bandido with makeshift weapons, including a sharpened tooth brush, during morning muster, News Ltd reported on Sunday.

One prison guard suffered a broken finger while others needed hospital treatment for cuts and bruises.

Mr Bindley said that under the government's plans to privatise prisons, fewer prison officers would have been on duty during the fight and the situation could have been harder to control.

"Five officers were injured on Friday, but in a private jail that number would have been greater, with fewer officers to protect each other and bring the violence under control," Mr Bindley said in a statement on Sunday.

"Officers have real concerns that private companies running prisons for profits will cut corners and put the interests of shareholders ahead of the safety of officers and prisoners.

"We know that at the only other private jail in NSW, Junee, there are lower prison officer to inmate ratios and training is less onerous."

He said officers at Parklea would meet on Tuesday to discuss the incident and plan the next step in their Stop the Cell-Off campaign.

Comment has been sought from the NSW Department of Corrective Services.

- AAP