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The Court of Appeal in Chile has issued a decision against Prosegur for anti-union practices during last year's 54-day strike by its Chilean workforce.  

Prosegur has been found to have undermined collective bargaining when it illegally hired replacement workers to cover the striking workers. According to the judges’ ruling 489 of 500 workers in Santiago went on strike last May, however Prosegur kept operating with supervisors and workers from regions outside of Santiago who were brought in. In Chile this is a violation of the conditions around the replacement of striking workers.  The Ministry of Labour to was forced act after Prosegur breached these conditions. Companies found guilty of “anti-union practices” are banned from public sector contracts for two years. This includes all levels of the state, including the municipal and the central government.

As a result of this decision Prosegur is now one step away from being banned from all public sector contracts in Chile for a two year period. Prosegur has until the 19th of March to decide whether it will appeal the ruling to the Chilean Supreme Court.  UNI Global Union is informed that it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will overturn the decision. The ban will affect its cash-in-transit operations. However Prosegur will immediately lose its contract with Chile’s biggest bank BancoEstado, as well as the state body responsible for state pension payments which are mostly paid in cash throughout the country.