PRIVATE SECURITY EMPLOYEES SIGN BARGAINING AGREEMENT (Page 30)

11/12/2008
Story: Mary Mensah
A collective agreement to improve upon the salaries and working conditions of private security employees has been signed by the Association of Private Security Organisations Ghana (APSOG) and the Union of Private Security Employees (UPSEG).
Under the agreement the employees will earn specific wages, benefits, and after working for six years or more they will be paid end of service benefits and other remunerations.
The Chairman of APSOG, Nana Adu Agyemang IV, signed for the employers while Nana Kofi Adu II, Chairman of UPSEG, signed for the employees.
In an address. Nana Agyemang IV said initially the APSOG refused to have its employees unionised because they felt that they operated under the police act, since the police were not unionised, but after careful study of laws governing employment they decided to change their stance.
He said currently there were many security companies operating in the country, and that it was very important that they re-organised and restructured their operations in order to meet the expectations of their clients and employees.
He urged the employees to abide by the rules and regulations of their companies and work very hard in order to merit increased salaries.
The Chairman of UPSEG said initially workers received as low as Gh¢40 as their salaries but with the new agreement employees will earn GH¢80 or more.
He said currently there were 115 private security companies which had been licensed to operate by the Interior Ministry but there were over 300 companies operating without valid licence throughout the country.
He said the agreement covered only 60 companies which were members of the union, and added that there are over 8,000 active members.
According to him members of Private Security companies were being educated and trained to be on standby as they would be called to support the security agencies if the need arose during the elections.
For his part, the Minister of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Nana Obiri Boahen, said the ceremony would go down in the history of the country, and urged both parties to be faithful, loyal and law abiding in their operations.
He said some people were not comfortable with the operations of the private security companies, so the ministry had set up a three member committee to look into their operations.
He advised them to work hand in hand with the police by reporting the activities of criminals and other miscreants in society to them.
Mr Mohammed Affum, the Public Affairs Officer of the National Labour Commission (NLC), commended the two groups for concluding the agreement, which is a legally binding contract that embodies the terms and conditions of employment of the workers.
He said the document which also spelt out the respective rights and duties of the workers and management was a bold step taken to prevent and manage conflict in the labour market.
The Public Affairs Officer said the process of workers negotiating their terms and conditions of service with their employers represented an important element of industrial relations which meant giving voice to workers.
He expressed the hope that in the implementation and application of the provisions of the agreement both parties would seek guidance from the same understanding that characterised the negotiations.
Mr Affum gave the assurance that the NLC was ever ready to assist both parties in ensuring harmony for increased productivity, profit and growth.