17.12.2024 / Press releases / Department for Education

Department for Education security guards to join mass strike on 21 December

• Security officers employed by G4S at the Department for Education (DfE), who are members United Voices of the World (UVW), will strike on Saturday 21 December in a fight over fair pay and sick pay parity with civil servants

• The DfE security guards will be striking with hundreds of other UVW members from Harrods, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the V&A Museum who are walking out in Westminster and South Kensington on Saturday 21 December
  
• The guards voted unanimously for the strike, with 100% turnout and a resounding “yes”. Their demands include a £15 per hour minimum wage, comprehensive sick pay, better annual leave, and improved uniforms

• G4S, contracted by the Government Property Agency (GPA) to manage 39 government buildings across the UK, has faced escalating strike action over poor pay and conditions. Allied Universal, G4S’s parent company, reported $20 billion in revenue last year

• This marks UVW’s second dispute this year at the DfE. Earlier, cleaners, caterers, receptionists and post room staff secured a backdated pay rise, amounting to a one-off payment of £2,500 per worker, along with negotiations for enhanced sick pay and more leave.

The guards, who work at Sanctuary Buildings in central London, demand a minimum pay rate of £15 per hour, a comprehensive sick pay scheme in line with directly employed staff at DfE, improved annual leave entitlements and better quality of uniform. 

UVW’s security guard disputes extend beyond the DfE, as museum security guards at the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and V&A Museum have already taken industrial action in October and November in pursuit of £16 per hour and sick pay from day one.

On Saturday 21 December, the DfE security guards will join hundreds of other UVW members, including Harrods workers and museum security guards, in walking out en masse to demand better pay and working conditions. Pickets will take place outside Harrods and the museums.

The DfE security guards’ were balloted for strike action when their demands were ignored by outsourcing British multinational and private security company, G4S Limited. The guards returned a unanimous 100% yes to strike action in a ballot which saw 100% density and a 100% turnout. 

Despite UVW representing all the security guards at Sanctuary Buildings, G4S has refused to engage with UVW for discussions, citing the union’s lack of official recognition. However, this does not prevent G4S from negotiating directly with the workers via their union of choice. Instead, G4S has stated it will only negotiate with the GMB union, with whom they hold an official recognition agreement – signed over the heads of and without the knowledge of workers in most of these sites – despite GMB never having had, nor currently having, any security members at the site.

G4S holds contracts with the Government Property Agency (GPA) across at least 39 departmental buildings in London, the North, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Despite the significant revenues of its parent company, reportedly $20 billion, the guards employed by G4S continue to face poor pay and working conditions. 

Job Centre security guards, members of GMB union, have alleged breaches of modern slavery and wage laws and PCS union members employed at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Cabinet Office, and the Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have been on strike for £15 per hour.

This is UVW’s second dispute this year at the DfE, where strike action was averted in the summer after cleaner, caterers and print and post room staff reached a deal that resulted in the backdating of an earlier pay rise (with a pay award of up to £2,500 for each worker) and talks over more sick pay and more annual leave.

Dele Bodumde, 12 years serving as a security officer at DfE and UVW member, said:

“The guards are the lowest paid in Sanctuary buildings and we don’t want to stomach it anymore. In fact I have been fighting for years for better pay and treatment in Sanctuary buildings, to the point where I felt I was a target for managers.

We all saw how the cleaners and caterers were being treated and we saw how UVW stood up for them and they were able to win  their requests. It  was their fight that inspired me to join UVW. 

Salary increment is key, we all want it but this fight is also about fighting to keep other benefits that G4S are trying to take away, like the Xmas transportation and renewal expenses for staff SIA licences. These things should be on the table. 

We also need more staff. We are forced to do some maintenance work sometimes and if we make any mistakes we are in serious trouble. I work evenings and weekends and things have changed for us. Due to cost-cutting measures we now only have two guards doing the job of three. 

Morale is high despite G4S ‘response to our demand that really showed they don’t seem to care about us. They say they won’t negotiate with UVW, even though all the guards have joined. We do not accept that they want to negotiate with a union that doesn’t represent us.  We are ready to strike.”

Adetola Oshin, security guard of 18 years at DfE and UVW member, said:

“The night guards are shoved to the side and not recognised and it’s been like this for a long time. We are treated like the lowest of the low.

When we stand at the front door all day, we face the public, and they sometimes abuse and threaten us. During the night lots of people bang on the door and when we run to the door, they abuse us. We are the ones facing the atrocities that come at us from outside.

For the past two years they have only given us one pair of shoes and one uniform that doesn’t fit properly.  We don’t have a restroom, so when we are on a break we just hang around, and walk around, because most of the time the building is busy and there is no place for us to sit.

The most important demand is the pay rise, I’ve never seen security guards earning lower than cleaners. London Living wage is not enough, there is no other building near us where the guards earn as little as we do. Yet we are trained and qualified professionals, we are all educated, we have masters degrees and there is simply no career progression.

We are all feeling the pain and this is why we joined UVW. Striking is our only option, they need to know that we are serious.”

Petros Elia, general secretary for UVW, said:

“This is UVW’s fourth security guard dispute this year, there’s a clear reason why security guards are striking up and down the country. They are dedicated highly trained, safety critical professionals who are not receiving the fair pay and respect they deserve. The requests they have made are reasonable and necessary to ensure they can perform their roles effectively and with dignity. And they are reasonable given the millions in profit G4S makes. While we hope G4S does the right thing and enters into constructive dialogue to give the guards what they need and deserve, our members are resolute and prepared to strike if necessary. We urge G4S to read the room, your employees are striking all over the country. Get round the table and give the guards what they need and deserve.”

ENDS

For more information contact the UVW comms team.

Jim: 07749 765264
Cristina: 07548 759340

E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk 

Notes for editors

United Voices of the World is an anti-racist, member-led, direct action, campaigning trade union and we exist to support and empower the most vulnerable groups of precarious, low-paid and predominantly BAME and migrant workers in the UK. We fight the bosses through direct action on the streets and through the courts and demand that all members receive at least the London Living Wage, full pay, sick pay, dignity, equality and respect.

The guards key demands include:

1. Minimum pay rate: A raise to £15 per hour or inflation-matching increases for existing higher rates
2. Sick pay scheme: A structured sick pay plan equivalent to that of Civil Servants
3. Annual leave entitlements: An increase in paid leave from 22 days to 30 days based on years of service
4. Quality uniforms: Replacement of current uniforms with higher quality, weather-appropriate alternatives
5. Designated break room: Provision of a private break area for security officers
6. Staffing levels: The transition of agency workers to permanent positions
7. Christmas transport: Reinstatement of a car service for staff working during the holiday period.
8. SIA licence costs: Coverage of renewal expenses for staff SIA licences by G4S.

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