News

Sadly, we bring to your attention more acts of retaliation against Prosegur workers based on union activity. 

In Peru last month, Juan Aucca, a union member in Trujillo, a vocal opponent of Prosegur´s acts of favoritism, nepotism, intimidation and discrimination against union members, was physically assaulted. This followed a series of harassing events at work and at home.  At work, anti-union locker room propaganda was placed on the company informational board and Juan was subjected to verbal attacks.  At home, someone came pounding on the door, shouting threats, causing Juan, his wife and children to be fearful for their safety.  The assault took place while Juan was riding his motorcycle.  He was in a wreck but, fortunately, he was not hurt. This is not the first time a union activist has been attacked under similar circumstances:  Luis Cardenas, president of the union, was attacked outside his home following similar anti-union harassment.

The local union, Sindicato Prosegur Perú, has called on Prosegur to denounce these acts of harassment and physical violence and for the company to deny any involvement.  Despite circumstances which suggest association with the company, Prosegur has remained silent.

In the face of no action by Prosegur, union members through the UNI Prosegur Alliance have come to Juan’s aid by placing a video on social media, calling on Prosegur to respond.  Prosegur’s only response was to refuse to renew employment contracts for four union activists.  Since then, 4 more union members have been dismissed or their contracts not renewed (the overwhelming majority of guards in Peru work under fixed-term contracts).  In each case, the union believes these actions were in retaliation for acts of union solidarity for Juan Aucca -- and the situation continues to escalate.    

These acts are not occurring in isolation. Sindicato Prosegur Perú and the company are in a dispute over health and safety issues: inadequate staffing, excessive hours of work, changes in procedures, assignments, locations and schedules.  The union believes that workers are unnecessarily being placed at risk and that some disagreements involve contract violations.

While this is happening in Peru, government authorities in Colombia are investigating an on-the-job death last April of a Prosegur guard who was shot in the head while loading cash into an ATM machine.  This worker’s death followed an alleged threat (and acts of retaliation) by the guard’s supervisor to “take care in the streets” after the guard refused to drop his union membership.  Health and safety provisions related to staffing in the parties’ collective agreement were violated when this fatality occurred. 

These acts of retaliation for exercising the right to join and to participate in a union violate workers’ human rights and are unacceptable.  UNI calls on Prosegur to honor the right to Freedom of Association.

We ask you to share this information on your union web page and on social media. The trade unionists in Peru know the power of global solidarity and greatly appreciate your support.