–contend they are the backbone of private security services

GIVEN the large number of women who make up the private security services, many of them believe that to prevent them from working the night shift could cripple the industry.
The women’s position is in response to calls made by Minister within the Social Protection Ministry, Keith Scott, to ultimately ban single-mother security staff from working the night shift.

Scott’s position is that the proposed ban is in the best interest of the family unit, in terms of helping repair society’s moral fabric.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, for very obvious reasons, one female security guard employed with the Professional Guard Service (PGS) said she believes that single-mothers in the private security sector should be offered assistance by both the government and the service with which they work if they’re serious about addressing their many challenges.

The 63-year-old former cook said that while the minister’s suggestion is a noble idea, she strongly feels that some sort of monetary assistance should be factored into the equation.
She said that both the security services and the government could help to provide night-care facilities for the children of single mothers while they work to provide for their families.

A 34-year-old mother of four also believes that some assistance must be provided before taking women off the night shift. An employee of Federal Management Systems, she explained that the majority of workers at her job are women, many being single mothers. The woman said that many security guards, including females, prefer night duty because it is less fatiguing.
“Both men and women would choose nights,” she said. “Is less fatigue, and it’s much cooler. And you don’t get any problems.”

She made the point, too, that many of the men do not work as well as the women. When they’re not griping about the long hours, she said, they’re always asleep on the job. They tend to sleep even more than women during the night shift, she said, adding that a case in point is a male counterpart at her current post, who had to be removed because he complained bitterly about the work, saying it was too strenuous.
A 37-year-old mother of three stationed at another prominent Georgetown location, said she believes that the proposal for single mothers to not work nights is a good one. For her, the idea is wise because any right-thinking mother would want to be at home with her kids at nights.

She said her firm gives females the option of working nights or day. While this is good, she, however, feels that some form of assistance or incentive should be offered those, especially if they happen to be single mothers.
From a man’s perspective, the minister’s proposal to do away with female guards working nights “is out of context.” The male PGS employee said he has been in the security business since 1975, and is totally opposed to the idea.
The seemingly able-bodied 85-year-old asserted: “You can’t introduce this system and when you look around, all the security services is mostly women. There must be a reason for that.”

He believes that the matter should be left well alone until some assistance is offered to ease the burden on single mothers.
Some women’s rights activists have called for alternatives to be produced before eliminating night-shift duty for single mothers.
Some have suggested offering night-care assistance for children; increasing the minimum wage; and offering educational opportunities to help single-mothers with personal development as remedies.