A total of 142 security officers were released from employment while 16 others have been redeployed to other sites after Premier Security Co-operative Limited failed to renew its contract with SBS Transit. The last day of operation by the agency at SBS Transit sites was on 28 February 2017.
The company informed its officers that it would no longer service SBS Transit on 6 January 2017 and consulted the Union of Security Employees (USE) 20 days thereafter. About 55 per cent of the released officers are union members.
“It is unfortunate that the agency does not have enough contracts to redeploy all our officers. I tried to redeploy as many as I could. When we lost the contract and had to release officers, we contacted the union to inform them about what we had to do,” said Premier Security Managing Director William Seak.
Payout for All
After negotiations between the union and the agency, all the released officers were given an ex gratia payout based on their years of service with the company. Meanwhile, the agency also gave redeployed officers a sum as a token of appreciation.
“Even though we are not doing well, we still fork out to give our officers a sum to compensate them. We want to make sure they know that we appreciate their service to the company,” added Mr Seak.
Setting a Precedent
USE Executive Secretary Steve Tan commended Premier for consulting the union about the redundancy exercise, something that is not always common in the industry.
“The open dialogue and exchange of ideas, within a frame that gives us time to plan the next step for the workers, was something we welcomed. Most importantly, the workers were not at a disadvantage,” he said.
As part of Premier’s efforts to minimise gaps in employment, the agency is now in talks with other agencies to take in released officers. USE has also extended assistance in placing its affected members in unionised agencies.
