Philadelphia Museum of Art guards approve contract with security firm

Guards at the Philadelphia Museum of Art have agreed to a three-year contract with AlliedBarton, a Conshohocken firm that provides security services at the institution.

It is the first contract negotiated by the independent Philadelphia Security Officers Union, formed by the guards after three years of organizing efforts at the city-funded museum.

Under terms of the agreement, ratified by the union last week and made public Monday, hourly wages will increase from $10.03 to $10.88 the first year, according to union organizer Fabricio Rodriguez, followed by 3 percent increases in the second and third years, for a total pay hike of more than 14 percent.

AlliedBarton employs about 130 guards at the museum, roughly 80 percent of the institution's security force. Union guards employed by two other security firms still must reach agreements with their respective employers.

"We are proud that our four-year struggle [to unionize] has resulted in a better quality of life for our coworkers and families," said Donald Lindsey, union president.

James Gorman, AlliedBarton's vice president and general manager for Philadelphia, noted that there would be no interruption of security services at the museum.

"The new multiyear agreement allows us to continue to provide the highest standards of training and services for the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the tens of thousands of people who visit the museum every year," Gorman said in a statement.

AlliedBarton's museum security officers voted to unionize in October 2009. The company challenged the election. The National Labor Relations Board eventually dismissed the company's objections and certified the union a year ago.

Afterward, AlliedBarton offered an increase of 25 cents an hour, upping it to 30 cents. Unhappy with the offers, the union sought assistance from allies on City Council.

Council approves city subsidies to the museum that amount to about $2.4 million annually, down from $3 million a few years ago.

Last month, in response to the lack of progress in the negotiations, Council mulled legislation that would defund the museum, according to Rodriguez.

A spokesman for the museum said in an e-mail Tuesday that Council members had been assured in a "recent letter" from the museum that "the contract with AlliedBarton calls for any subcontractors to pay a wage rate at least equal to 150 percent of the federal minimum wage."

The spokesman, Norman Keyes, added: "The record speaks for itself. The contract with AlliedBarton calls for a wage rate that is consistent with the goals of the city's living-wage ordinance."

About two decades ago, security officers at the museum were unionized city employees paid about $14 an hour plus benefits. In the early 1990s, Mayor Ed Rendell decided to privatize security operations at the city-owned museum.

Dynnita Bryant, union shop steward, said the union had "more contracts to settle and we will keep on organizing workers" elsewhere.

The contract takes effect April 29, Rodriguez said.