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Stefan Andreasson talks about his Indian experience in 2007

I am an employee of Group 4 Securicor and also a senior shop steward and health and safety officer, for the Swedish Transport Workers Union at the company. I have worked with G4S since 1989 as a security guard and with cash in transit. Through my union work with the company’s European Work Council, of which I am a member, I soon started to work with international questions.

The guarding profession in Scandinavia is government controlled and under supervision by the police, national and local government. The profession is a well paid and respected job in Scandinavia. Of course we have our problems but when I came to India I understood what a challenge and what bad conditions really mean.



The security workers told me about working up to 18hrs a day, 365 days a year. Some reported no place to eat or to even go to the toilet. You didn’t get any training and have to pay for your own uniform. And in one case you had to pay for the cleaning of the cash room you guarded almost 15% of the salary!

Some employers made the workers sign their own resignation when they were employed! Because many of the workers can’t read, the managers take advantage of that. And to come from Scandinavia with our high standards and social security this was all a shock! The campaign in India is a very important part of our global campaign “Justice at G4S”. As a part of UNI Global Union we are trying to get G4S to behave according to national laws and agreements and to not fight against the different country’s unions. Our goal is also to get G4S to sign a “Global Framework Agreement”. We have a long way to go in India but with our hard working colleagues and fellow unionists we are moving forward step by step!