SHOWSEC SHAMBLES

When you are working in the same part time job for a number of years, do you slowly begin to see the flaws in how it works or is that just me? I’ve worked for an  event security company for a while now and the amount of flaws and mistreatments both within the company and the staff are beyond unacceptable. 

I work in the Leeds area. For events this is one of the busiest cities or so the company say anyway. The company supply security staff for a range of different venues, including your typical bars like Headrow House, theatres in Leeds like City Varieties and The Grand Theatre, your bigger venues like First Direct Arena, o2 Academy and then all your council based events in Millennium Square and around the city. It’s safe to stay that we are always busy. Although they supply staff to all these venues do they actually have the demand to fill them up with the staff we have? There are always supplying half standard sub-contractors to these venues, how does that maintain the high standards a lot of us try to provide when someone works a venue, makes a mistake that a hardworking staff member have to deal with the consequences of. Showsec are looking at getting the contract for the opening of Planet Ice at Elland Road. Will they be able to staff these when everything is so stretched as it is.

I think one of the hardest things working for Showsec is the constant harassment from ops and booking to book onto more shifts. They ring you and down the phone beg for you to do the shift because they’re so desperate for staff. How is this fair? If I’m cancelling off a shift it is likely because I am unwell or unavailable. So why, as I come off the shift am I being asked if I want to work elsewhere that day? Why are they begging me to work somewhere else, when it’s clear I don’t want to work at all. You can’t say no because booking emotionally get inside your head expressing how desperate they are and how much help they need.

But being always busy does have its drawbacks. For example, staff working 20 hours or more in one go. That is always down to the individual who agrees to it, if they can handle it. But surely a company shouldn’t allow someone to work these sort of hours. Starting at 5am and finishing at 2am, how is that legal? But that is just one of the small problems within the company. It doesn’t cause too many problems because the staff do agree to the shifts and maybe I’m just too weak to not be able to do more than 8 hours. 

I think, alongside many other people, believe the issues within Showsec go much further than this. Let’s begin with the company before we go further into the people working for them. There are a lot of issues in terms of staff welfare that they fail to tick boxes on. How can stewards be put in a lift, no bigger than the size of a single bed, with the door shut for up to 12 hours a day depending on the event. How can said steward only be given one 10 minute break in that time? This isn’t the occasional thing to happen, this happens time and time again. Regardless of the position of the steward, the majority of shifts staff are only getting short breaks in long hours. Most of the time by the time you’ve walked to the changing rooms you only have time to go to the toilet. Showsec say we aren’t entitled to a break under security regulations but does the law on breaks in the workplace not express how we are entitled to one 20 minute break uninterrupted every 6 hours?* It appears to me like this is breaking the law.

But when it comes to complaining about these sort of mistreatments to HR they don’t actually seem to care about protecting the staff. On many occasions I’ve known them to make situations worse, they don’t help but make staff feel worse for airing their concerns. An issue I’ve recently noticed on their platform and group to discuss work such things “Band” that there is a lot of argumentative people. A lot of people are sharing their opinions. Some of which are quite sexist. But this isn’t the only way the staff are acting. Showsec staff from what I have noticed, someone who speaks to quite a lot of people and represents themselves as friendly, are homophobic, racist, sexist and transphobic to name a few. I have a good working relationship with other casual staff and operation managers (ops). This isn’t just an issue amongst the casual staff. I have spoken to ops and they’ve spoke in a sexist and racist way. Is this someone a client would want working for them and representing them? It shouldn’t be. This is one of the many things, as I’ve said, HR aren’t interested in. It really shows. I’m aware through friends of friends of people that have raised such issues with the company, for quite a rude and blunt response. They ask for examples and names. How am I, or other people, suppose to list every member of staffs name who are speaking in this disgusting way when it is more than half of the workers?

On the conversation of ops managers they have a lack of empathy for other staff and their mental health problems. I’m aware of this because I’m friends with people who on shift have discussed their mental health problems. They don’t care. In some cases of course they don’t need to care about their staff as long as they’re getting the job done. However, is there no duty of care? I recall a member of staff explicitly saying how they were on the verge of suicide, at an all time low, but they couldn’t get out of going to their shift. A company can’t always be there to look after hundreds of staff but surely there has got to be a better solution for this than the 5 day cancellation policy. I personally can’t see in to the future, so knowing how my mental health is going to be that many days ahead is quite frankly impossible. On the subject of the 5 day cancellation policy how is this staff friendly? Especially in the winter seasons. Of course it can be difficult staffing shifts as it is, but how is someone going to be able to figure out if they’re unwell 5 days prior. Can you see into the future to find out when you’re going to be poorly? 

I think I’m gonna close with the one of the most shocking things I’ve heard about happening at an event. When you get your Door Supervisor licence the guidelines on what you can and can not do are quite strict, but they are needed. One of the laws protect under 18s from being body searched because they can not consent to this action. With this being said, at a Disney On Ice event at the First Direct Arena a female DS member of staff once pat down a newborn baby. She physically put her fingers on this newborn child and started searching their back and bottom. This is surely a huge problem, we are here to protect people, not touch their newborn babies. 

But to conclude, how do you feel about this? Is this someone you want to hire? To represent you?