KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition leader Mark Golding, says the Andrew Holness-led government must act promptly to strike a balance between security companies and the guards they employ in a bid to resolve an issue, which he says, is affecting tens of thousands of Jamaicans.

Golding was speaking to reporters on Saturday and once again highlighted the need for the Prime Minister and his administration to address concerns expressed by security guards regarding new contracts issued by their employers.

Security guards say they are being forced to sign new contracts with very little benefits in their favour following a Supreme Court ruling handed down last September. The ruling said security guards were to be regarded as employees and not contract workers. It came into effect April 1.

READ: Supreme Court ruling concerning security guards takes effect

According to Golding, the ruling has “important implications for the security industry and the government which through these companies employs over 60 per cent of the security guards in the country, gave the companies until April 1 to implement the necessary changes to transition to treating the guards as employees in accordance to the court’s ruling,” he said. “However, the way in which the security companies have sought to manifest this is by giving the security guards new contracts to sign and those contracts involve waivers and releases of the accrued rights.”

“In other words, the guards are being asked to sign contracts in which they give up their historical rights from their years of service to the companies in the past,” he continued. “Naturally the security guards are reluctant to do this. It is unfair to expect them to do this. The government has been written to by the representatives of the guards, there has been no response forthcoming.”

Golding says the Ministry of Labour has tried to “wash its hands” of the issue and says the situation warrants a negotiated settlement that is fair for all.

“The best solution is to bring both sides to the table to work out and negotiate a solution that all can embrace,” he said. “The government needs to act as an honest broker between the security companies and the security guards to work out a solution that is balanced and fair to all.”

Security guards have been protesting the new contracts being offered by their employers. They revealed that companies have warned that failure to sign the new contracts would result in them not being allowed to work.

READ: WATCH: Security guards protest over new employment contract