Securities call for their industrial laws review

The National Union of Workers (NUW) is calling on Government to review the security industry laws.

This call was made by the Fiji Trade Union Congress (FTUC) general secretary Felix Anthony in Lautoka.

Yesterday, the NUW with the Evergreen International Fiji signed a collective agreement on all the terms and conditions of employment of workers.

Evergreen International Fiji operates as Wormald Security and Guard Force in Fiji. The company is a prominent security services provider in Fiji. It specialises in electronic security services, including monitoring intruder alarms, access control, CCTV, and electronic fire detection systems. Mr Anthony said they were concerned about the security industry in this country.

“We are looking forward to working with them. We don’t have this issue with guard force and certainly hope we never do. “

He said there was a lot of exploitation in the security industry.

“More so, with the display by the night operators that we have in the industry who don’t observe the law, who don’t play by the rules.”

“There is a lot of wage theft occurring in the industry by small operators. We have a claim against one of the operators to the tune of about $3million which we owe to the workers by this security company who have not paid overtime rates, who have made unlawful deductions.”

He calls on Government to review the law so that no worker would be cheated for their legal entitlement.

“We call on Government to review the law for the industry which is to ensure that there is a level playing field for employers and employees. There need to be more strict inspections carried out in these companies to ensure full compliance.” he added.

The security company general manager, Mike Jamieson said with the signed agreement they hoped for a better outcome for workers.

Feedback: mereleki.nai@fijisun.com.fj