Slajd 1

1
Building dialogue in the private security sector
in Poland
2
Security Sector in Poland

• More than 200,000 workers
• Hundreds of small companies
• Small number of large and rapidly growing
  companies
• Very low union membership

3
Issues

• Low pay 5,60 zl per hour (less than 2)
• Fee-for-task agreements
• Too much overtime
• Low status of the profession
• Companies compete based on low wages,
  not quality

4
2006 Solidarnosc begins an organising campaign
in the private security sector with support of UNI
5
Campaign Goals

• To build national union of security workers
• To establish dialogue with employers that
  improves working conditions for security workers
  in Poland

6
Basic Strategy

• Organising campaign in Warsaw (largest market)
• National Partnership Agreements on organising
  rights with employers
• Expand Campaign to other key markets

7
Organising campaign in 8 key companies

• 40 of Warsaw market
• Concentration of top clients
• 10 000 guards
• Includes multinationals

8
Elements of the campaign

• Mapping issue identification
• 1 on 1 contact with workers
• Communications leaflets, website, media
• Political
• Legal
• Client (Principal Employer)

9
End of 2006 996 members
10
Employers Anti-Union Actions

• Ekotrade
• Fired union leader.
• Solid Security
• Fired 21 trade union members
• Reduced the working hours of union
  activists
• Forced 72 workers to resign from the union.
  
• Yellow Unions
• Several employers actively promote management
  controlled organisations

11
Going public
Activities putting pressure on commercial and
government clients

• Client Letters
• Leafleting
• Pickets
• International support UNI, SIPTU
• Reports on working conditions in private security
  sector/Press events
• Demonstration in front of government
• Exhibition "Fathers return home Our children
  need their fathers"

12
What we won

• Union now has partnership agreements in 6
  companies Solid, G4S, Securitas, Impel,
  Konsalnet and Ekotrade

Covering more than 40 000 security workers.
Union has also a partnership agreement with PZP
Ochrona a national employers association
13
Building a National Union

• Late 2007, individual branch unions merged to
  form national security workers union

14
Campaign has expanded
Wroclaw Poznan Gdansk other Cities
15
As of Today

• 5000 members
• gt25 density in key markets
• And Growing!

16
But,it is not possible to fulfil the EU
standards of social dialogue in the private
security sector in Poland as long as

• Workers earn 5 6zl per hour
• Workers must work more than 300 hours per month
  in order to provide for their families

17
Solving These Problems

• Continue to build the union
• Reform public tender process to include quality
  criteria
• Negotiate industry collective agreement

18
Industry-wide collective bargaining is the only
way we can raise standards across the industry
and make positive changes in private security
sector in Poland.
19

• In July, Solidarnosc began simultaneous
  collective negotiations with the 8 biggest
  companies.
• There is a single unified negotiations committee
  with representatives from all 8 companies

20
Our Goal

• A common collective agreement which effectively
  will set a higher standard for the entire sector