A private security firm that struggled to adequately staff for the World Cup will take over a contentious new file, having recently won a $5.7-million contract to handle what the City of Toronto calls its “core” homeless shelters.

A request for proposals was posted in March following the collapse of operations of an unrelated company, One Community Solutions, which handled at least some of the duties that will now be taken up by Hamilton-based Star Security. OCS’s private guards were ordered off the job in late January.

The city’s dealings with OCS are at the heart of a $32-million class-action lawsuit filed by former employees against the security company, its alleged leaders and city hall.

Meanwhile, the security firm that recently won the shelters contract has its own history with city hall.

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Concerns over World Cup staffing shortfall

The Toronto Sun reported in June that well over 100 of Star’s guards did not show up for duty during Toronto’s first World Cup weekend. Pay was listed online at as little as $18 an hour and a source told the Sun many guards were paid about $20.

“The city went with the lowest bidder and got what they paid for,” an insider involved with FIFA planning told the Sun in June, adding that Toronto Police picked up overtime shifts and city hall hired “a couple” of extra companies to make up for Star’s shortfall.

A couple of years before that, Star was in a labour dispute over a Toronto Community Housing contract. While that matter was resolved, one of the issues was Star’s treatment of security guards as independent contractors.

The union involved in that dispute, the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Local 1006A, previously told the Sun in a statement that “under-qualified companies are winning major contracts” in the security space.

‘Highly trained, qualified’

Star’s winning of the shelters contract was published on the City of Toronto’s online bid portal without fanfare. As recently as August, representatives for the city had told the Sun they could not confirm if Star had been selected for the contract.

Star did not respond to a request for comment.

In a brief statement to the Sun , city hall said little other than that the solicitation process ended before the World Cup and that suppliers were judged on their ability to “provide a highly trained, qualified and authoritative security workforce.”

The $5.7-million contract covers one year and the city has the option to extend the deal for two more years, according to a document viewed by the Sun that was released as part of city hall’s request for proposals. Star is required to staff each site 24/7 with multiple guards, the document shows.

Star is responsible for five locations: The St. Felix Centre on Fraser Ave.; the Willowdale Welcome Centre on Yonge St.; the Fred Victor 24-hour respite near the Princes’ Gates; and two facilities on Lake Shore Blvd., including a large shelter at 545 Lake Shore Blvd. W., near Bathurst St., and a respite centre at 351 Lake Shore Blvd. E.

OCS had been involved with at least two of those locations, the St. Felix Centre and 545 Lake Shore . While shelter operations have wrapped at the latter site and the building is listed for sale, the city confirmed the five locations identified in March are still the core sites covered by the contract.

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Security licences, OT spelled out

The document says the city requires Star’s employees to have security guard licences and their duties explicitly involve security-related tasks including, if necessary, making arrests.

Hourly pay, per the city’s fair-wage policy, starts at $23.75 with more for guards in leadership roles, the document says.

Overtime is time and a half after an employee has logged 40 hours in a week. One of the allegations made in the OCS lawsuit is that its guards weren’t paid overtime, even as some of them worked 80 hours or more in a week.

OCS lost its Toronto shelters contract this year after provincial authorities stepped in, having found the company’s guards weren’t all properly licensed. While it had a secondary operation based in Barrie, it appears the company is now defunct.

OCS guards operated in groups called community safety teams and the guards themselves were sometimes called “CSTs.” While that phrase played down the guards’ security work, it fell out of favour with city hall and in January bureaucrats were using the term “neighbourhood response teams” instead.

jholmes@postmedia.com