The Government will introduce powers to impose a ban on strike action by prison officers in England and Wales, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said.
The controversial move - which will further deepen the row over public sector pay - is designed to avoid a repeat of a wildcat strike by the Prison Officers Association (POA) last August.
Mr Straw said he had been left with "no alternative" but to seek the new powers to protect the public and inmates.
It emerged that £220,000 of damage was done to a juvenile wing at Lancaster Farms Prison in Lancaster during last year's 12-hour walkout, with inmates smashing plumbing systems, breaking windows and setting fires after wardens launched their surprise industrial action.
The measures were tabled in an amendment to a Bill currently going through Parliament and could be in force within months.
Mr Straw said: "Our judgment is that we will have no alternative but to seek this reserve power.
"I don't want it to be used. I have been extremely reluctant to bring this forward and I hope we can avoid using it."
The measures will be kept in reserve and only used if the POA and the Government fail to draw up a voluntary no-strike agreement in the next few months. Mr Straw's move will reinstate a statutory ban which was first imposed by the Conservatives in 1994, and at the time was opposed by Labour, who later repealed the law in 2005.
The current Government signed a voluntary agreement with the POA but the trade union has indicated that it will withdraw on May 8 this year. Mr Straw said he hoped the proposal for new legislation would come into force before then.
Asked how he would react if the POA called industrial action as a response to the move, he said: "If there is industrial action, obviously I would take decisions at the time."
