News

UNI Property Services has signed a global agreement with G4S, the world’s largest security solutions group. The agreement makes clear that all of G4S’s 570,000 employees, spread across more than 110 countries, have the right to organise unions in a free and fair atmosphere. The agreement also states that G4S will follow international and national labour law in its relations with workers.

Back row (left to right): Stefan Andreasson, Swedish Transport Union; Christy Hoffman, Organising Director, UNI Property Services Union; Lars Lindgren, International Secretary, Swedish Transport Union; Irene Cowden, Group HR Director, G4S; Jenni Myles, Director of Employee Engagement & HR, G4S; Bob Crosby, GMB; Debbie McGrath, Group Communications Director, G4S

Front row: Philip Jennings, General Secretary, UNI Global Union; Nick Buckles, CEO, G4S; Paul Kenny, General Secretary, GMB

G4S is the second largest private employer in the world, and the largest UK multinational corporation. This agreement, the first global framework agreement signed between a global union and a UK corporation, paves the way for improvements in the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers, including many in the Global South. In many of the countries where it operates, G4S is the industry leader. Improvements in employment conditions and wages negotiated by local unions pursuant to this agreement will have a positive effect not only on the company’s employees but on the security sector overall, on the workers’ families, and on the communities in which they live and work.

UNI affiliates from around the world have participated in the Alliance for Justice at G4S and been represented on UNI’s negotiating committee. Members and leaders of UNI affiliates from Malawi to India to Sweden have made their voices heard in this multi-year process. In addition, UNI and G4S have reached a settlement regarding an OECD complaint filed by UNI. Workers in Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will see immediate improvements thanks to this settlement.

Jenni Myles, Director of Employee Engagement & HR at G4S plc, commented: “We believe our employees, customers and investors will see the value in this global partnership and that we now have a real opportunity to work together with UNI for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.”



Philip Jennings, General Secretary of UNI, added: “We welcome this agreement as a first for a British employer in the services sector. A global company working with a global union is the way forward for a sustainable business model. Global agreements are an integral part of a genuine corporate social responsibility policy and enable us grow the "triple bottom line" together. This agreement represents an opportunity for progress for the many thousands of workers who want to improve their lives through building unions and is intended to raise standards across the many markets where G4S operates.”