Private security
| Workers’ representatives |
UNI-Europa – Cleaning/Security Services (formerly Euro-FIET) (2000) UNI-Europa Regional Office
http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/iportal.nsf/pages/sec_20081016_gbg7En |
| Employers’ representatives |
Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS) (1989) |
Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee (SSDC)
| Informal working group: |
1992 |
| SSDC: |
1999 |
| Internal Rules: |
15 December 1998; 10 June 1999; 15 December 2006 |
| Work Programme: |
2007-2008-2009-2010 |
General overview
The private security sector covers a wide array of activities, ranging from the surveillance of personal assets and property to the transport of valuables, via personal protection, access control and even the design, installation and management of alarm systems. It comprises some large multinational corporations, such as Group 4 Securicor, Securitas, Prosegur and Brink’s, in addition to numerous smaller companies.
Participants and challenges
European social dialogue in the private security sector began in an informal working group in 1992. The Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee (SSDC) was established in 1999. The employers are represented on the Committee by CoESS (the Confederation of European Security Services), formed in 1989, and the workers by the Cleaning/Security section of UNI-Europa.
Outcomes
The European Social Observatory classifies the private security sector in the category of sectors seeking to build a European dimension in their field of operations (along with other sectors: industrial cleaning, personal services, live performance, temporary agency work, audiovisual and Horeca). What these sectors have in common is that they have little exposure to international competition and are scarcely affected by Community policies, which means that the European social dimension is not so much imposed on the participants as actively shaped by them.
Joint texts
The “private security” sectoral social dialogue has resulted, since 1996, in the adoption of 22 joint texts.
ETUI and Observatoire Social Européen (2010) European Sectoral Social Dialogue Factsheets. Project coordinated by Christophe Degryse, online publication available at www.worker-participation.eu/EU-Social-Dialogue/Sectoral-ESD
