News

On Monday, January 22, a committee of the Indian Security Workers Organising Initiative met with national G4S management to take an important first step towards reducing economic hardship for over 100,000 of G4S employees in India. G4S is the largest private sector employer in India and the second largest private employer in the world.



The company agreed to refund all of its employees the deposit they were required to pay for their uniform - a small amount - but important in the lives of workers who earn only about 3 Euros a day despite many hours of overtime and who struggle to eke out a living.



Second, the company agreed to a process towards resolving the key union demand - fair payment into the Provident Fund. Presently, G4S bases its payment into the fund on only a portion of the workers’ earnings, claiming that the rest is an allowance. The union has argued that this system is illegal and that it unfairly reduces the amount to which the workers are entitled. The Provident Fund is usually the only source of savings for Indian workers. G4S agreed to submit the issue to a Central Labour Commissioner for a binding decision.



Finally, the company agreed to set up committees to resolve grievances in all of the cities in which it operates, a nod towards establishing unions.



Last year on June 15, Justice Day, UNI Property Services asked the Indian government to step in to address some of the key economic issues affecting the 5 million private security workers in India. We asked the Indian government to ensure compliance with minimum wage laws, enforce the laws on retirement and health benefits, improve job security for guards, and insist that that security companies adhere to international laws that provide for the right to form free trade unions. In October, UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings met with the Indian Minister of Labour to raise these important issues.



UNI Property Services welcomed these first steps towards dignity for so many thousands of workers and this positive development with industry leader G4S.