The security industry is experiencing problems because it is unregulated, yet the General Workers’ Union is taking it out on individual companies rather than addressing the real issue, according to one company director.
Competitors have eaten out each other in a bid to win work, which just causes more precarious work
“They are attacking the waiters when they should be taking it out on the chef.
“The security industry remains unregulated… the fault is of the previous Government and not of security companies,” said Joseph John Grech, director of Signal 8 Security.
He gave the example of a recent call for tenders issued by the Government that stated that the contract would be awarded to the “cheapest tender to satisfy administrative and technical criteria”.
This led bidders to bid cheap even if it meant “minute profits”. As a result, employee salaries were low. Companies usually compensated for this through other contracts with the private sector.
Signal 8 Security was one of four companies listed by the GWU in a statement issued on Monday.
The union said it had noticed that a number of security companies were offering bids “at a per hour rate that was lower than the cost of retaining a full-time employee with all ancillary benefits per hour”.
Among these companies, the union said, were Kavallieri Security, Signal 8 Security, Global Security and Executive Security Services.
The first three companies listed denied the allegations and said they issued bids according to law. Executive Security Services could not be reached.
Global Security and Kavallieri also reserved the right to take legal action against the union.
When contacted yesterday, GWU section secretary Cory Greenland explained that the cost of labour per hour was computed by costing the minimum wage, bonus, vacation and sick leave, public holidays and national insurance.
The computation led to a conservative cost price of €5.66 per hour, excluding VAT. “This does not include administration costs, uniforms, training, other costs such as radios, and profits.
“Hence, the rate of €6 and over (plus VAT) is the going rate,” he said.
Dr Greenland added that whenever companies took on work at less than €5.66 per hour, this meant they were either working at a loss and creating unsustainable workplaces that would ultimately cause redundancies and hardship, or were exploiting their employees. He insisted that the four companies were listed by the union either because they accepted contracts below €5.66 or following reports from employees of “exploitative practices”.
These included underpaying workers, forcing them to pay for their uniforms, withholding leave and sick entitlements and registering workers as self-employed despite being in breach of employment regulations, among other things.
“The union has no grudge against any employer per se. However, employers should be sensitive to at least granting all minimum employment conditions and then working for the pride of the industry and improving conditions.
“The cost of guarding has gone down over the years and not up, despite inflation and other costs.
“Competitors have eaten out each other in a bid to win work, which just causes more precarious work,” said Dr Greenland.
He added that the union would continue to mention any exploitative practice of any company in the security sector whenever reports from employees proved true.