GMB, a general trade union in the UK, with over 617,000 members has called on employers to help ensure that security staff working at the Olympics do not return to the dole when the Games are over.
The Union has said:
Many of the 8,000 security staff were recruited from the ranks of the unemployed earlier this year and were trained to provide security at the games. They are now all licensed by the Security Industry Authority and the majority have accreditation from the Home Office. When games are over they will have 13 weeks practical experience at a major international event.
The jobs which they will be qualified to do could involve: monitoring CCTV, baggage checks at airports, office reception/security, security in the leisure and the leisure sector like music venues and sporting events and pubs and nightclubs, static security on building sites and other locations including car parks and many more job sectors which the employees can go into after their job in the Olympics.
Although G4S have pledged to help the security staff remain in employment, many are doubtful.
As the Games are coming to a close, concerns about the legacy and the long term impact of the events are beginning to rear their heads once more.
The latest scandal, involving local traders from Leyton being scammed into paying as much as £27,000 for an Olympic food stall, only to have customers directed away has raised concerns that for some, what was promised as a great business opportunity, could actually lead to their ruin.
