Hawkeye diplomatic guards restive over stalled wage talks

 

Hawkeye security guards assigned to the British High Commission protested Thursday over stalled wage negotiations. 

 

John Levy, General Secretary of the Union of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), which represents the guards, says the negotiations have been happening at a snail's pace. 

 

The guards protested outside the offices of Hawkeye's headquarters on Belmont Road Thursday afternoon. 

 

"The pace at which we are going is very, very slow. Fourteen meetings, including three or four at the Minister of Labour with no resolution in sight. The company has put an offer on the table, which is quite frankly disrespectful and not something that could assist in manoeuvring and managing the cost of living that is being faced by the workers," Mr. Levy complained. 

 

He said the workers, many of whom are well-trained, are struggling. Pension is one of the major issues on the table.

 

"There is no proper pension arrangement in place for these diplomatic security, just like a lot of other security guards, you know, and they have been with these companies for years. The issue of the kind of salary that they are being paid, there is a ranking system now that everybody is paid basically the same basic salary. The only difference is a little rank allowance, and there are number of other issues."

 

But he said the High Commission is still being manned.

 

"We will not leave the embassy to be exposed to any sort of situation. The last time something like that happened somewhere in Libya, the US embassy, there was one big international furore, almost caused some war over it. And we don't want anything like that to happen in Jamaica," he assured. 

 

In response, Hawkeye's Group Human Resource Manager Sharon Laing said the protest took the company by surprise, especially since they are in the middle of negotiations. She said the employees have asked for a 100 per cent increase in salary and have not changed their stance since. 

 

She noted that all other outstanding issues have been settled.