Africans employed by British multinational Group 4 Securicor face racial insults and are paid so poorly, they are forced to live in homes with no running water or electricity, according to a fact-finding team that has returned from South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi. The company, which helped bring the Olympics to London, is a likely bidder for security contracts.
“I met with G4S guards in Malawi who are so poorly paid they’re forced to make decisions no one, particularly a parent, wants to make—which child’s school fees should be paid.” Dave Ritchie, executive member Unite.
A fact-finding team, assembled by UNI Property Services interviewed G4S guards, their family members, union leaders and government officials about the security company's practices. They visited southern Africa April 16-20, 2007. Their findings are highlighted below:
Allowing racist behaviour to go unchecked
● Kaffirs and Monkeys Guards at the Oliver Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa allege G4S supervisors refer to them as kaffirs and monkeys. SATAWU, the union representing guards at the airport, had to petition for their removal.
● Whites Only Toilets Guards reported that in Pretoria, South Africa a G4S manager provides white employees with keys to the company toilet. Black guards are forced to use the toilet in a nearby mall.
Maintaining policies that keep guards in poverty
● Guards in Malawi earn typically around $27 per month, however they
could earn more. G4S requires guards to work 12 hours per day. Instead of increasing their hourly pay for the four hours of overtime they typically work each day, G4S reduces their wages by half. G4S maintains Malawi law allows it to do so; however this policy violates the company's own Terms and Conditions for Employees.
● In both Malawi and Mozambique, guards report they are not allowed to take paid leave. One guard from Blantyre, Malawi, reported that he had worked an entire year with only a single paid day off. He was allowed one day off to attend a funeral.
● In Mozambique, the company admitted to an arbitration panel it had not paid guards overtime for more than a decade -- from 1994 to 2005-- however it has refused to fully pay back pay to guards who were never compensated for their overtime hours.
● In Mozambique, guards owed redundancy payments when the company's contract with the U.S. Embassy wasn't renewed last year are still waiting for the company to act. Meanwhile many struggle to get by.
"Global companies like Group 4 Securicor have global responsibilities. The Olympic games are a venue for global companies that respect human rights everywhere they operate,” said Christy Hoffman of UNI Property Services.
“The racism and poor wages and conditions which G4S African workers suffer beggar belief. We call on Mr Livingstone to make decent treatment for all workers a condition for the company winning 2012 Olympics security contracts. But the British government must introduce binding regulation over UK firms' behaviour towards its overseas workers. Jackie Simpkins, War On Want.
The entire report can be found on www.union-network.org/property.
Press Availability Members of the fact-finding team, as well as Patrick Finyamowa, a G4S guard whom investigators met while in Blantyre, Malawi, are travelling to London and Berlin to share their findings with elected leaders, human rights campaigners, union members as well as NGOs with a special interest in Africa.
A special briefing hosted by the Transport and General Workers Union and War is Want is scheduled for Thursday, May 30 at 6 p.m. Verdi, Germany’s largest union, will host the delegation for a briefing in Berlin on May 31.
Background on Group 4 Securicor Group 4 Securicor employs more than 82,000 workers in 18 African nations. It is not only large, but it is growing. In 2007, it purchased two security firms on the continent—one in South Africa and another in Mozambique. Globally, G4S employs more than 470,000 workers in 104 countries.
The company provides an array of security services including guards for high-profile sports and entertainment events. In 2006 they obtained contracts from World Cup organizers in Germany. It's a likely bidder for contracts at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the London Olympic Games in 2012.
About UNI Property Services: UNI Property Services Global Union is an organization of labour unions from around the world that represent cleaners and security workers, among the world's most low paid and vulnerable employees.
Showing posts with label G4S. Show all posts
Showing posts with label G4S. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Monday, 21 May 2007
Labour news from UNI global union - for trade unions in a global services economy
A UNI Property Services fact-finding team that included trade union leaders from the UK, US and Europe, as well as academics, attorneys and NGO leaders has completed Phase One of an investigation into Group 4 Securicor’s operations in Southern Africa and is now finalising its recommendations.
Phase One involved a fact finding mission traveling to South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi to meet with and interview guards and their families, union leaders, clients, and government officials. G4S representatives refused to meet with the delegation.
The delegation found evidence of widespread and systemic abuse labour and human rights including the following:
· A case referred to South Africa Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration in which workers allege that Group 4 Securicor managers at the airport in Johannesburg refer to guards as “kaffirs” and “baboons”.
· G4S managers in Pretoria, South Africa provide white guards with keys to the company toilet whilst people of colour are forced to use the toilet in a nearby mall.
· Guards in Blantyre, Malawi are required to work four hours of overtime every day. For these overtime hours, guards are paid at half of their normal hourly rate.
· Guards in Malawi earn salaries which are insufficient for them to pay for adequate housing, food and for school fees.
· In both Mozambique and Malawi guards work seven days per week, year-round and are not permitted to take paid leave.
· In Mozambique, G4S has refused to comply with a judicial decision awarding back pay to guards who were not compensated for overtime hours. Police broke up a demonstration in Mozambique called to protest the company’s conduct.
UK-based G4S is the world’s largest security provider. It operates in more 100 countries with approximately 470,000 employees and last year its worldwide profits were £277 million. G4S is the largest employer in Africa, with more than 82,000 workers in 18 countries.
The delegation will release its report in London on 30 May, at an event hosted by the Transport and General Workers’ Union and War on Want.
Members of the delegation: Jackie Simpkins, War on Want; Peter Bremme, Ver di; Ijeoma Omambala, International Centre for Trade Union Rights; Professor John Logan, London School of Economics; Ashwini Sukthankar, human rights attorney; Dave Ritchie, Transport and General Workers Union; Gerry Hudson and Bill Ragen, Service Employees International Union; Wilfred Manphala, Swedish Transport Workers Union, Christy Hoffman, UNI Property Services Global Union; and, Fackson Shemanda, UNI Africa.
Phase One involved a fact finding mission traveling to South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi to meet with and interview guards and their families, union leaders, clients, and government officials. G4S representatives refused to meet with the delegation.
The delegation found evidence of widespread and systemic abuse labour and human rights including the following:
· A case referred to South Africa Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration in which workers allege that Group 4 Securicor managers at the airport in Johannesburg refer to guards as “kaffirs” and “baboons”.
· G4S managers in Pretoria, South Africa provide white guards with keys to the company toilet whilst people of colour are forced to use the toilet in a nearby mall.
· Guards in Blantyre, Malawi are required to work four hours of overtime every day. For these overtime hours, guards are paid at half of their normal hourly rate.
· Guards in Malawi earn salaries which are insufficient for them to pay for adequate housing, food and for school fees.
· In both Mozambique and Malawi guards work seven days per week, year-round and are not permitted to take paid leave.
· In Mozambique, G4S has refused to comply with a judicial decision awarding back pay to guards who were not compensated for overtime hours. Police broke up a demonstration in Mozambique called to protest the company’s conduct.
UK-based G4S is the world’s largest security provider. It operates in more 100 countries with approximately 470,000 employees and last year its worldwide profits were £277 million. G4S is the largest employer in Africa, with more than 82,000 workers in 18 countries.
The delegation will release its report in London on 30 May, at an event hosted by the Transport and General Workers’ Union and War on Want.
Members of the delegation: Jackie Simpkins, War on Want; Peter Bremme, Ver di; Ijeoma Omambala, International Centre for Trade Union Rights; Professor John Logan, London School of Economics; Ashwini Sukthankar, human rights attorney; Dave Ritchie, Transport and General Workers Union; Gerry Hudson and Bill Ragen, Service Employees International Union; Wilfred Manphala, Swedish Transport Workers Union, Christy Hoffman, UNI Property Services Global Union; and, Fackson Shemanda, UNI Africa.
Thursday, 26 April 2007
"To Travel is to See"
According to an African adage, "to travel is to see." While I had heard about the awful working conditions and treatment of security guards in countries such as South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique, seeing the injustice and poverty workers face at the hands of Group 4 Securicor was more compelling than I had imagined.
I visited Africa as part of a delegation of human rights activists and union leaders to investigate Group 4's treatment of workers on the continent. The company is one of the largest multinational employers in Africa -- bigger than Coca-Cola -- and it employs nearly 65,000 employees in 18 nations.
Manuel Cossa is a former guard at the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique. He and 300 other workers were laid off by G4S without receiving notice or the legally-required severance payment to tide his family over financially until he found other work. He lives on the outskirts of the capital city in a three-room house with no electricity or running water, and must now rely on piecemeal work to support his six children. A proud man who does not want a handout, Manuel only wants to be paid for his hard work and to improve the harsh environment G4S guards encounter every day.
My visit to Africa also showed that workers like Manuel are fighting for what all workers need: to be treated with dignity and respect, and to have a chance at providing a better future for their children. While G4S is a powerful, global corporation with the power to improve the lives of workers and the continent, the company has instead chosen to relegate both to poverty.
Though I left African soil several days ago, I remain inspired by the courage of the G4S guards whose material wealth will never compare to that of their employer, yet -- together with broad international support -- are standing up against the corporation's arrogance and disregard for their work. They are proof of another African proverb: "unity is strength, division is weakness."
I visited Africa as part of a delegation of human rights activists and union leaders to investigate Group 4's treatment of workers on the continent. The company is one of the largest multinational employers in Africa -- bigger than Coca-Cola -- and it employs nearly 65,000 employees in 18 nations.
Manuel Cossa is a former guard at the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique. He and 300 other workers were laid off by G4S without receiving notice or the legally-required severance payment to tide his family over financially until he found other work. He lives on the outskirts of the capital city in a three-room house with no electricity or running water, and must now rely on piecemeal work to support his six children. A proud man who does not want a handout, Manuel only wants to be paid for his hard work and to improve the harsh environment G4S guards encounter every day.
My visit to Africa also showed that workers like Manuel are fighting for what all workers need: to be treated with dignity and respect, and to have a chance at providing a better future for their children. While G4S is a powerful, global corporation with the power to improve the lives of workers and the continent, the company has instead chosen to relegate both to poverty.
Though I left African soil several days ago, I remain inspired by the courage of the G4S guards whose material wealth will never compare to that of their employer, yet -- together with broad international support -- are standing up against the corporation's arrogance and disregard for their work. They are proof of another African proverb: "unity is strength, division is weakness."
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