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17th April 2024 Issue no. 701
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G4S security guards at US military base in Korea walk out in contract dispute
Hundreds of security guards manning the gates at several U.S. military bases across South Korea are refusing to work in protest of a new contract that will cut their wages and lengthen their working hours.
According to a labor union representing these guards, about 750 of its 850 members have refused to sign the deal with the British firm G4S. The U.S. Army recently signed a deal with the company, ending its five-year tie with a Korean company named Joeun Systems Corps.
These guards held protests in front of U.S. bases such as Camp Red Cloud here, north of Seoul, Yongsan Garrison in Seoul and Camp Carroll near Daegu, southeast of Seoul. The labor union said the guards plan to stage their protest for a month.
About 100 G4S security guards plus some U.S. soldiers manned the gates. Contracted civilian security guards take care of entry points at U.S. bases so that troops can focus on their military duties.
The U.S. 8th Army selected G4S through an open bidding process last September. G4S said it would hire new guards and lay off about 120 of the current guards. The company also demanded the hours per week increase from 40 to 60, while slashing up to 450,000 won (US$398.60) from monthly wages and laying off about 120 guards.
The company and the guards' union had two rounds of negotiations but failed to narrow their differences. Park Deok-seo, head of the union, charged that G4S won the bid with about 124 billion won, about 500 million won less than what Joeun had paid when the Korean firm first signed the contract in 2006.
"They won the bid with such a ridiculous price, and they're passing the entire burden to the security guards," Park said.
An official with G4S said the company was trying to go back to the table with the guards, but it will have little choice but to hire new guards if they continue to protest the deal.
The 8th Army maintained that G4S was entirely responsible for the employment of guards. One official said, "We picked G4S considering its capabilities, ethics and other terms of the contract, and so there is no problem."
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice, rather than a peace treaty.
7th December 2011