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A Colombian court issued an arrest warrant against two Prosegur managers in the country. Prosegur refused to comply with a judicial order to pay unionized workers the same bonus that was paid to non-union employees. The payment of the bonus illegally encouraged workers to resign from the union in the company. Prosegur, a major global private security firm headquartered in Madrid, Spain, has a string of adverse legal rulings against it concerning human rights and labour violations in Colombia. 

“Prosegur is so out of control in Colombia that the company does not respect national law or judicial orders. The company isn’t above the law and has to respect the decisions of the Colombian justice system”, said Adriana Rosenzvaig, Regional Secretary of UNI Américas.

Concerning this most recent judicial ruling: 

• A Colombian judge issued an arrest warrant for two Prosegur managers in the country.
• The arrest warrant was issued due to Prosegur not complying with a judicial order issued in August 2012.
• Prosegur paid their non-union employees a bonus of €1,500 in 2010. The company has still not complied with the judicial order from 2012 to pay the same amount to unionized employees.

In a decision issued on the 20th of June, a Colombian judge has ordered 5 days arrest for Prosegur managers Alejandro Agudelo Rojas, Director of Transportation of Valuables and Cash Management, and Jorge Alfonso Rojas, Human Resources Manager, for not complying with a judicial order from August 2012.

In December 2010, the company illegally paid 4 million Colombian Pesos (€ 1,500) to non-union workers to sign on to a Pacto Colectivo (a labour agreement with non-union employees), in this way incentivizing the resignation of workers from the union.  This sum was the equivalent of 3-4 months salary for these workers (approximately € 400 a month).  A judicial order in August 2012 ordered the company to pay the same bonus to unionized workers. 

Instead of complying with the judicial order, Prosegur continued with the same practice of paying a bonus to non-union workers to sign a new Pacto Colectivo in December of 2013, this time giving non-union labour a sign-on bonus of 2 million Colombian Pesos (€ 750). In the June 20 decision, Prosegur is obliged to pay this bonus, plus any other benefits given to non-union workers, to the members of the Sintravalores union.

In November 2013, UNI Global Union submitted a complaint to the Spanish government alleging that this mistreatment of workers in Colombia and other misconduct violate the OECD Guidelines for Multinationals, global rules which hold companies to responsible business conduct.  UNI has also filed a complaint with the ILO concerning the company’s dismissal of striking workers in Paraguay.  UNI has repeatedly appealed for the company’s global management to intervene to correct bad practices at the local level, to no avail.

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UNI Global Union is a global union federation comprised of over 900 national union affiliates who represent 20 million workers.  Its Property Services Sector has 128 affiliates who represent over 2 million security guards and cleaners throughout the world. 

Go to Related Files for details of the Colombia court order and the OECD complaint

For more information from UNI, contact:

Adriana Rosenzvaig, UNI Americas Regional Secretary, +598 91 39 28 76

Benjamin Parton, UNI Americas Organising Director, +598 91 392 870

Alice Dale, UNI Property Services, +41 79 769 9061