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UNI Global Union’s new Prosegur report outlines serious violations of human rights and labour legislation by the multinational security company which is competing for million dollar contracts to provide services for flagship sports events including the World Cup 2014, the Confederations Cup and the Rio Olympics 2016.

Prosegur, a Spanish company, is the third largest private security company in the world and the largest security firm in South America and in Brazil. It now employs 55,000 guards in Brazil, over 40% of the company’s global workforce. As the report shows, while Prosegur has normal relations with unions in Spain, it has set out to break unions in South America where workers and unions have sought to address low pay, and issues around precarious work and safety.

“The study outlines how Prosegur has viciously attacked workers and unions who have fought to improve working conditions, to raise wages and to make their jobs safer,” said Alice Dale, the head of UNI Property Services. The report highlights the en-masse firing of 300 workers in Paraguay over a legal strike about safety and pay. In Colombia, the report documents how Prosegur has cynically cut wages and introduced programmes to undermine the union when it stood up for a contract provision to guarantee permanent jobs for the company’s workers. Levels of temporary workers in Prosegur’s operations in Colombia and Peru now exceed 50%.

The report points out that Prosegur’s annual report touts its commitment to CSR initiatives by highlighting its membership in internationally-respected groups such as the FTSE4Good IBEX index and the Global Compact but its unwillingness to stand behind these commitments when its country managers chose to ignore them. When confronted over this apparent contradiction, Prosegur’s International Director of Labour Relations said the company has a decentralized labor relations policy globally.

“This behaviour by Prosegur is in violation of international and national human and labour laws. It is very important for Brazil to show that all the companies involved in the different areas of these prestigious sporting events respect internationally recognised trade union and human rights. UNI Americas is working with its affiliate unions in Brazil, including CNTV-CUT to ensure that these standards are upheld,” said Adriana Rosenzvaig, Regional Secretary of UNI Americas. CNTV-CUT represents more than 600,000 security officers.

A UNI delegation led by Alice Dale is in Brazil to deliver the report to the Brazilian authorities responsible for, and government agencies who oversee, major sporting events in the country. "We believe these sporting events provide a unique opportunity to raise standards for workers in the security industry and we are bringing to the attention of key players the violations of international and national law, practiced by Prosegur in South America," said Dale.

Jose Boaventura Santos, President CNTV-CUT, expressed his concerns about the double-standard of Prosegur regarding safety standards in Europe versus South America and said that the confederation will continue to closely monitor the behavior of the company during these high profile games.

For further comment please contact Benjamin Parton of UNI Global Union, 00598 91 39 28 70.