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May 27, 2018 foroyaa.gm
G4 Security Guards Demand Better Remuneration
The G4 Security (G4S) guards attached to the US Embassy, Tuesday May 22,
took to the streets demanding better working conditions. The protesters are
demanding salary increment, reduction of long working hours and pending bonus
to be paid to them. The protest involved only the Company’s Guards at the US
Embassy. The protesters engaged their manager in a discussion lasting three
hours at their headquarters in Fajara, without reaching a deal with him.
After failing to reach an agreement with their employer, the guards went out
to various installations guarded by their colleagues and asked to join them
in a peaceful street protest. Guards posted to the US ambassador’s residence
were the first to be discharged and asked to join in the protest. At the US
Embassy, guards on the post also joined in the protest, headed for the
warehouse at Jimpex. According to Sanna Cham, taking to the streets was their
last option; that this was why they engaged their employer and concern
authorities like the Labour Department and the Ministry of Interior, but
their situation remains the same. ‘‘For fifteen years, the Company has not
increased our salaries. This is painful,’’ he asserted. ‘‘We have been
engaging our manager for three years to try to meet and satisfy our demands
but he is always giving us promise without any sign of making it happen,’’ he
added; that going by their contract agreement, they are supposed to work for
eight hours but instead they work for twelve hours now; that they were
promised salary increment but four years on, this has not happened. ‘‘We are
not happy with the way our manager is treating us. We want both our manager
and the US Embassy to treat us like human beings with respect, by giving us
our rights. We are offering them our services to the best of our ability,’’
said one protester. At the Embassy, the US Regional Security Officer (RSO), gathered the protesters to persuade them to go back to
work. The RSO informed them that they are aware of their concerns and promise
them that something will be done about it. He however told them that those
who joined the protest cannot be assured of a contract with the US Embassy,
after 24 hours. ‘‘For those of you who are on shift and have to abandon it, I
will make an exception today without consequence but if you do not go back to
your duties right now, I cannot guarantee that you will continue working with
the Embassy again,’’ the RSO told protesters. ‘‘I cannot have my guards
leaving the embassy and my people unprotected,’’ he said. He told protesters
that they are working to fix their demands but that he cannot sit down
watching their facilities go unprotected. The protesters told him that they
do not want to hear empty promises; that they have been promised for several
years in vain; that the reason for their protest is not news to him because a
letter was written to him specifying their concerns and also engaging him in
direct consultations.
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