Support Suspended Wackenhut Workers

Anderson Carter Sr. and Terence Purnell, Wackenhut security officers who were leading an effort to form a union with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) at offices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C., were suspended indefinitely from their jobs in the last several weeks. Please send a letter to the IMF and Wackenhut management demanding the company reinstate these two employees.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: IMF Contractor Wackenhut Should Support Workers' Rights

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am very concerned to hear that the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) private security contractor, the Wackenhut Corp., appears to have a fundamental disregard for workers' rights.

Despite Wackenhut's parent company's claims that it "and Wackenhut fully respect the rights of employees to become members of any union of their choice," I have recently learned that Anderson Carter Sr. and Terence Purnell, Wackenhut security officers who were leading an effort form a union with SEIU at IMF offices in Washington, D.C., were suspended indefinitely from their jobs.

I also learned Wackenhut refused to recognize SEIU as the union of security officers at those offices, despite the fact a majority of the security officers have demonstrated the desire to form a union. Most troubling, I've learned that Wackenhut is facing federal labor law charges for illegally threatening, interrogating and engaging in surveillance of its employees involved in the exercise of basic workplace rights.

The suspensions of the Wackenhut security officers seem to be the latest in a string of federal labor law allegations by employees of anti-worker practices by Wackenhut. Furthermore I am concerned that Wackenhut is undermining efforts by SEIU to improve labor and security practices in the United States private security industry.

It is disconcerting that a leading global institution like the International Monetary Fund would continue to do business with a company whose labor practices suggest a fundamental disregard for its workers' basic rights.

I urge the IMF to order Wackenhut to reinstate Officer Carter and Officer Purnell, call on the company to respect workers' rights and immediately agree to a non-confrontational, efficacious process for Wackenhut's employees to join SEIU if they so desire, without fear of threats, coercion or other interference.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 24, 2004

Background Information

IMF Private Security Contractor, Wackenhut, Is Not Keeping Its Word on Workers Rights: Wackenhut Suspends Two Workers Involved in Forming a Union with SEIU

Wackenhut’s parent company, Group 4 Falck says “Group 4 Falck and Wackenhut fully respect the rights of employees to become members of any union of their choice.” Yet in the past few weeks, Anderson Carter Sr. and Terence Purnell, Wackenhut security officers who were leading an effort to form a union with SEIU at offices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C., were suspended indefinitely from their jobs. Both men, who have filed federal labor law charges against Wackenhut, believe they were suspended because of their support and involvement with the union.

Both Officer Carter, age 60, and Officer Purnell, age 57, are veterans of the U.S. armed forces and former corrections officers. Both wanted to form a union in order to gain a voice for Wackenhut security officers on the job and make sure Wackenhut security officers were treated fairly at work. Both were recognized leaders among their co-workers in the effort to form a union with SEIU, the nation’s largest trade union of security officers.

More than half of all security officers at the IMF offices have signed cards in support of forming a union with SEIU and formally asked Wackenhut to recognize their union. Wackenhut has refused.

Wackenhut is now facing federal labor law charges for illegally threatening, interrogating and engaging in surveillance of employees involved in the exercise of basic workplace rights in relation to the cases of Officer Carter and Officer Purnell.

The suspensions of the Wackenhut security officers seem to be the latest in a string of allegations from employees of federal labor law violations by Wackenhut:

From 1991 to 2000, Wackenhut employees and their unions filed 95 charges of federal labor law violations against the company. Since 2000, at least 91 labor law charges have been filed. One-fourth of those were filed in the five months immediately following Group 4 Falck’s acquisition of Wackenhut in May 2002. The charges include interfering with employee rights to organize and bargain and discriminating against employees based on their union activity or membership.

Wackenhut already has a record of anti-worker, anti-union behavior in the other countries:

Guatemala: “neutralize” and “wipe out” unions

In 1995, Wackenhut’s manager in Guatemala - Fernando Hegel - commissioned a “confidential” memo from Samuel Cabrera Padilla, an ex-minister of labor under Guatemala’s military dictatorship. The stated goal of this 22-page document is to “neutralize . . . or gradually weaken” a trade union “until it is wiped out.” The memo concludes by saying that “Wackenhut . . . should have the assurance that no union organization will come into being, since its functions include neutralizing and suffocating any movement intended to form an ad hoc committee or union by following the instructions in this opinion.” The memo details how to recruit spies among workers to inform management of any protest movement.

Fernando Hegel still works for Wackenhut today as group business development director in Miami.

Canada: “Picket line crossing coordination”

In Canada, Group 4 Falck’s subsidiary - Group 4 Falck (Canada) Ltd. - boasts that during labor disruptions it offers services such as “picket line crossing coordination,” “management training,” “collect[ing] evidence for injunctions” and “movement of product... through a third party.”