Talks between GMB union and only bidder for conference security contract broke down this week

No security arrangements are yet in place for Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool next month after talks broke down between the GMB union and the one remaining bidder for the contract.

The GMB told the Guardian it had asked Labour to cut its ties with Showsec, the Liverpool company lined up to provide conference security after the party’s national executive committee voted to boycott G4S.

It leaves the conference still without a confirmed security provider less than six weeks before it is due to open.

The conference is expected to be one of the most fractious in years, with the result of the hard-fought leadership battle due to be announced on 24 September as MPs and party members gather in Liverpool.

The GMB’s security industry national officer, Roger Jenkins, said the union had made it clear to the party that it would be unacceptable to hire Showsec, after talks about union recognition broke down this week.

Earlier this month it emerged that the Labour party’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, had been warned it was possible the Home Office could cancel the conference if an adequate security plan was not in place.

The GMB signed an access agreement in 2004 allowing it to approach Showsec staff, but Jenkins said the firm had never signed a recognition agreement.

“There is no right to representation, no right to collective bargaining, no right to negotiate pay, anything at all like that,” he said. “There has not been any real relationship at all, and they don’t recognise any other trade union.”

Jenkins said Labour had been hoping for a breakthrough between the GMB and Showsec.

“The rules for the Labour party is any service provider they use have to have a recognition agreement with a trade union,” he said. “It would be unacceptable to hire Showsec to do the security. We would not be very happy, to say the least. How will the membership of the party feel about this?”

Jenkins said he could not see how the party could go ahead with Showsec as a provider. “The leadership of the Labour party has to take a decision if they really want to give a contract to a company that refuses to recognise trade unions. That would be an interesting move.”

It is understood the GMB had hoped to achieve recognition before the conference, and the union said representatives met the company in Liverpool last week and drafted a bespoke recognition agreement. “We were right up against it and it took a lot of pressure,” Jenkins said.

Told that the agreement had to go through the board, and under significant time pressure to get a deal ready for the Labour conference, Jenkins wrote a last-minute memorandum of understanding for both parties to sign, saying they would work towards union recognition by September.

He said he got no response until this week. “I emailed them and I said: ‘What is the reality, do you want this, yes or no?’ And the answer came back as no. They have been absolutely clear they do not have the authority to sign recognition agreements with trade unions.”

Jenkins said the union had given the company every opportunity possible to strike a deal. “This is has not been an aggressive approach, it’s been honest and open and it’s been really disappointing.”

Last year Labour’s national executive committee voted to boycott G4S, which had handled security for 20 years.

Five security firms are reported to have been approached to bid for the 2016 contract. A leak several weeks ago revealed that three had declined to bid and a fourth, Securitas, had withdrawn its bid “after completion of a risk assessment”, leaving Showsec as the sole bidder.

McNicol was warned that the Home Office may stop the conference taking place if adequate security was not in place. Merseyside police told the Liverpool Echo they were confident the conference would take place.

GMB said it had recognition agreement with all other big security firms, including G4S and Securitas.

“The decision has to be made immediately, by the party’s NEC, as a matter of urgency,” Jenkins said. “If they make the right decision I don’t think it’s too late to talk to some of the other big players who have got the capability to do this.”

A spokesman for Showsec confirmed the firm had been invited to tender for the security provision at the Labour party conference but said it had not been told that the contract was contingent on signing a recognition agreement.

“At no point were we advised that signing a recognition agreement with the GMB Union was a stipulation of that tender,” the spokesman said. “Showsec are not in a position to sign this recognition agreement due to corporate governance guidance, but contrary to some reports we would like to make it clear that the company are not anti-unions in any way.

“We have, in fact, had a partnership agreement in place with GMB union since 2004, but following discussions with the union in an attempt to find a resolution, they have advised us that this is no longer fit for purpose. We are disappointed that we presently find ourselves in this position.”

A Labour spokeswoman said: “We don’t comment on commercial arrangements.”