Security Workers Get Organised

Myself and fellow trade unionists will be hosting a day long event next month that will hopefully be attended by all security workers unionised or non-union.

Everyone’s work experience needs to heard and we need to get ourselves organised into a sustainable grassroots network with a long term strategy of taking on rogue employers who have no respect for us workers.

Fighting for better pay, getting organised as a security worker and being in a union that can be forced to use collective bargaining to win gains for us is better than doing it by yourself, getting nowhere in isolation. 

Are the trade union leaders fighting for the following?

* Sick leave & pay

* Rest and breaks despite legislation 

* Safe Pass (lack of) but companies trying to bully security onto clients site that requires you having a SP

* Training 

* Staff being prohibited from working for 2nd/3rd parties despite the industry being low paid 

* Outreach and wider communication with fellow security 

* Making workers aware of their statutory rights

* Blatant non-compliance around time + half when security are assigned overtime shifts after 48 hours that is negotiated between union and bosses that bring about Employment Regulation Orders (ERO’s) 

The sad answer is no! That’s why we need to organise ourselves at the grassroots.

So a few, short years ago I and other fed up Security Officers set up a campaign called “Respect for Security Officers” that later became the “Security Officers United” campaign, we were angry and fed up with the top table message from the bureaucracy of ICTU and their unwillingness to fight.

“WE CANNOT CHALLENGE THE HIGH COURT INJUNCTIONS BY EMMET O’RAFFERTY WHO OWNS TOP SECURITY LTD” 

“SIT BACK AND LET US WORK OUT SOMETHING AND DON’T CALL US.. WE’LL CALL YOU” 

That’s what they said!

Nearly three years went by and legally we were stuck on €11.65 per hour from June 2019 and in January 2022 we were still told to wait - even though my head & health wasn’t in a good place I wasn’t going to just sit idlly by and continue to be jerked around by a boss or any unnamed bureaucrat. 

I called a public meeting and with fireworks in my belly I wanted to see if a grassroots anger existed and one that was going to take on the big security employers and cut through the soft, weak and pessimistic spin of the union bureaucrats.

Worker power could force a William Martin Murphy-like boss to backtrack on his vicious injunctions that held up tens of thousands of security workers getting two miniscule pay increases. 

€11.65 - €12.50 (August 2022)

€12.50 - €12.90 (February 2023)

We agreed to and organised security protests outside:

* Leinster House 

* Top Security Ltd Ballymount HQ

* We wrote to their blue chip clients, explaining why angry and determined Security officers where turning up outside their premises with loud megaphone and placards. 

* we handed out SOU Newsletter to fellow Security staff in Dublin, Limerick and Cork and the IWU Dublin branch embraced every positive initiative we asked them to support. 

Top Security after losing to many contracts and workers to rival firms caved into the protests by advanced workers. But we are still small and need to grow this movement. That’s the weakness of Security Officer United- we need you!

More need to come on board and realise that waiting for the top table to argue for a few extra pennies is not going to achieve utopia and passively waiting, waiting, waiting.. is a dead end for us workers!

Security workers today are getting treated like dog crap. Still getting fired on the spot with bosses not adhering to grievance procedures and using coercion on workers to enter Safe Pass only client sites despite not carrying the Safe Pass and/having the adequate training & personal safety uniform to protect from injury or death. 

Its January 2025 and yes Fianna Fail/Fine Gael is effectively back in power. But workers are fighting back in:

* Tesco 

* Health 

* Section 39

* Teachers 

* Plumbers, fitters

Workers are preparing for battle with an arrogant right wing government. Maybe it’s time Security Officers warn security bosses, government and trade union bureaucrats not to ignore us anymore and see the influence of socialists like myself at the heart of each worker battle ahead. 

Francis will be speaking at the Security Workers’ Forum “Crisis In The Security Industry” 11am Sat Feb 22nd at 61 North Strand Dublin 1.