News

On January 27, 2012 negotiations between Choeun System Union, affiliated with the Korea Federation of Foreign Organization Employees’ Union (FFOEU), and G4S broke down and a strike began in the Seoul and Mapo Districts of Korea. The issues dividing the parties are significant.



According to Choeun System Union, G4S asked security guards to work 176 hours a month and with a workforce of 770 employees. The union submits, however, that G4S will require security guards to work 240 hours per month, plus additional overtime hours beyond that, to meet the employer’s demands. This staffing level means that G4S will fire at least 150 employees to meet their bidding standard of 2 shifts for 3 teams.



Effective February 27, the current replacement workforce, provided by US soldiers, will be replaced with G4S security guards. This will result in up to 300 employees being brought back to work or as new hires. G4S has been advertising both within and outside the current workforce. 600-700 workers are on strike, which means most will be without jobs for at least some time and probably permanently for many. G4S rejected employment succession, a key demand of the union.



In addition to hours of work, staffing levels and job security, other key issues in this dispute include: wage dumping (G4S proposed to reduce wages from W270,000 to W450,000 per month) and inadequate or inappropriate safety equipment (bomb-resistant jackets, guns and gun-fire).



UNI Property Services contacted the G4S Headquarters office in London on February 10 to request investigation and intervention to assist in resolving this dispute. To date, the issues are still under inquiry by the G4S head office.