CAMEROON
Failure to Resolve Strikes Hurts Workers and Clients,
Causes “Widespread Despair”: G4S in Cameroon
September 5, 2006--Security officers working for Wackenhut in the port city Douala remain on strike, calling for benefits to which they say they are legally entitled. With Wackenhut security officers off duty, the Cameroon Tribune is reporting high crime levels and “widespread despair.” Competing security companies are stepping in to fill some of the need.
This is the second time this year Wackenhut Cameroon has driven workers to strike. The Cameroon strike is only one of several strikes this summer at G4S subsidiaries in Africa.
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Workers Launch Strike
August 22, 2006--The union representing G4S workers in Cameroon reports that it began a strike against G4S on Monday, August 21, 2006. The strike began in Douala and could involve up to 5,000 workers around the country. The union claims that the company has not lived up to the agreement reached last April by the workers that it will make payments to the workers pursuant to Cameroon law and the collective agreement. According to the union, these payments are owed because of the change in company’s ownership from Wackenhut to Group 4 to Group 4 Securicor, and then to G4S. A list was published on Monday with amounts which differed dramatically from the workers’ expectations under the agreement. According to press reports, many of the workers have been without work for a long time. Others are surprised to learn that they won’t be entitled to any payment unless they quit.
According to press reports, in the beginning of 2006, G4S took the position that it no longer owed “social payments” on behalf of Wackenhut, since Wackenhut no longer had any legal status. The workers organized a “sit down” strike in April and were given assurances that proper payments would be made. The General Manager of Wackenhut Cameroon SA and the Group 4 Securicor group of companies in the country, Joseph Biyiwoh, pledged to respect Cameroon’s labor laws.