3,000 security guards in Philadelphia get a new union contract with raises
In a union survey earlier this year, some security guards reported that the job didn’t pay enough to cover their basic needs and that they received little to no recent training for the job.
Security guards employed across universities and in office towers in Philadelphia ratified a new union contract Monday, getting improved wages and benefits.
The roughly 3,000 guards represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 32BJ had been working on an expired contract since October.
“This win is for every security officer who will make a living wage, enjoy real holidays, and be able to provide for their family,” security officer Tyrone Patterson said in a statement Tuesday.
Members covered by the new contract work on the campuses of Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University, and in other buildings in the city. They are employed by security companies Allied Universal Security Services, Colonial Security Services, GardaWorld Security, Harvard Protection Services, and Securitas.
Their minimum pay rate under the old contract was $16.25 an hour. The new contract includes pay increases totaling $4.30 over the four years, to a minimum of $20.55.
The new agreement also includes three new paid holidays — Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day — for a total of six, and an additional day of paid time off for workers who have been on the job for three years. Healthcare will continue to be paid for in full by the employer.
“These jobs have the potential to be a path to the middle class that allows workers to live in the places they work so hard to protect,” said Gabe Morgan, executive vice president at 32BJ SEIU, in a statement on Tuesday. “We appreciate that the largest of the security contractors, Allied Universal, and their clients saw the urgent need to do right by these security officers with a fair contract.”
Allied Universal is pleased the union ratified the agreement, the company said Tuesday through a spokesperson. “We appreciate all the dedicated Allied Universal security professionals for their efforts in delivering high-quality security services to the community of Philadelphia,” the company’s statement reads.
Earlier this year, in a survey administered by the union, some security guards reported they were not making enough money to cover their basic needs. Surveyed security officers also said they had received little to no recent training for the job, which can entail facing dangerous situations.
Legislation was introduced in June by City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas to require training for security guards.
Roughly 2,500 Philadelphia security officers secured their first union contract through 32BJ SEIU in 2012. Since then, the group has grown to 3,000, among the 14,000 guards in the city.
“We are the people who protect this city from sunrise to sundown. The ones who stand in the cold, the rain, the dark. We don’t wear capes, but every single day we carry courage on our shoulders,” said Daquan Gardner, a security guard at Temple Hospital, in a union statement. “We didn’t just win a contract, we claimed dignity, respect, and our rightful place in this city.”