The South Australian Government will take the public service union to court in an attempt to stave off a planned prison lockdown.

Key points: Tuesday's budget contained plans to privatise the Adelaide Remand Centre

Tuesday's budget contained plans to privatise the Adelaide Remand Centre The public service union is planning a protest on Monday, including locking down prisons

The public service union is planning a protest on Monday, including locking down prisons The government has initiated court action

The 40-hour lockdown of all except one of the state's prisons comes as the Public Service Association (PSA) plans to stage a protest in response to the state budget, handed down on Tuesday.

The budget included thousands of job cuts across the public sector and revealed plans to privatise the Adelaide Remand Centre.

The government lodged a notification of an industrial dispute with the South Australian Employment Tribunal yesterday, asking for both parties to reach an agreement through negotiations or arbitration.

In an initial three–hour negotiation between the Corrections Department chief executive David Brown and the union, the government said it had sought a commitment to maintain a minimum critical staffing level at each of the prisons.

After those discussions failed to result in an agreement between the government and union, the dispute will proceed to a tribunal hearing.

Treasurer Rob Lucas said as a result of the protests, prisoners would have to be locked in their cells for up to 40 hours.

Treasurer Rob Lucas says Adelaide Remand Centre privatisation plans will proceed regardless of union action. ( ABC News )

"We're advised that prison staff don't intend to go back to work after the protest rally so we're hoping we can have a sensible discussion this morning through the formal legal circles that are available and industrial circles that are available to try and come to some sort of sensible arrangement," Mr Lucas said.

"They want to protest this action, they're entitled to have a protest, but we think the public are entitled to expect that their safety will be protected and that also the safety of prisoners will be protected."

He denied that the State Government was "at war" with its own workers.

"No, I think that's perhaps inflammatory language that I wouldn't wish to use at this stage," he said.

Plans will proceed regardless

Mr Lucas said the plans to privatise the Remand Centre would proceed regardless of the union protests, with tender documents already released onto the market.

He said he had a responsibility to taxpayers as an elected representative of the government, arguing that the union was not elected by South Australians to govern.

"The union leaders are not running the state and they shouldn't think that they are," he said.

"The people of South Australia elected a government to make decisions, they didn't elect union leaders to be the de facto government."

PSA general secretary Nev Kitchin said public servants were concerned about the government's plans to privatise services.

"Prior to the election, our now Premier stated that they had no privatisation agenda and this is what has really set off a grenade among our membership," Mr Kitchin said.

"There is also this big issue about whether or not it is in the public interest to privatise, commercialise prisons and as the Treasurer has stated, they don't even know what the savings will be."

Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas said he was concerned about plans to privatise a maximum security prison in the central business district.

"The whole idea behind corrections is that when these people get out, they don't get out and commit another crime," Mr Malinauskas said.