SECURITY staff have been dismissed after a walkout at Wethersfield Asylum Centre, a union has said.
Wethersfield Asylum Reception Centre has housed male asylum seekers since July 2023 and been the focus of protests in the area.
The Security Industry Federation (SIF), a union representing workers in the UK security industry, said security workers at Wethersfield did not show up at the site on Thursday in a dispute over pay, terms and conditions.
The union, which represents all of the security members at Wethersfield, has said a number of the workers have since been dismissed.
The walkout follows a number of safety incidents and abuse in recent months, the union told the BBC.
Daniel Garnham, general secretary at the SIF, said: “We are extremely concerned that our members who did not attend work have been dismissed and there are reports that night shift security workers were phoned threatening dismissal if they did not attend work.
“Although this was not an official SIF trade union staged walkout, due to awaiting an official response, our members feel like they have no choice but to show their value to Clearspings Ready Homes, who I believe are doing very well from this Government contract.”
Mr Garnham said the self-employed workers have now been told that they must apply for their jobs, which are advertised at a lower pay rate that they currently have.
“On top of this, they are being asked to clean and deal with waste as an additional workload,” he said.
“Our members have been backed into a corner and asked to sign a contract they have never seen in order to continue working at the site for a company who are not a security provider by trade.
“The Security Industry Federation stand with our members and are ready to finally speak to Clearspings in order to come to a swift resolution".
He added the union has relayed the workers’ concerns to Clearsprings Ready Homes and the minister for security, Dan Jarvis, with no response.
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A Home Office spokesperson said: “Fewer than one third of security contractors did not report at Wethersfield on Thursday, opposed to the two-thirds figure which is reported. Staff did not report to the site for various reasons.
“This did not have an impact on day-to-day operations of the site, which continued as normal.”
Clearsprings Ready Homes has a 10-year contract with the Home Office to provide services to asylum seekers.
The company has previously faced criticism for inedible food despite making £180m in profits since being awarded the government contracts in 2019.
Clearsprings has been contacted for comment.
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