1000 Downtown security guards join SEIU union

Calling it the largest union contract signed in the city in decades, organizers joined Mayor Bill Peduto in celebrating a deal with nine security firms covering 1,000 guards, the majority of whom are African Americans.
“It’s not often we get to celebrate a win for both the city and the country,” said Peduto. “We will see the wealth in the economy helping all people. We are literally rebuilding the middle class.”
The deal boosts the pay for hourly employees by $1.95, to a minimum of $11.75 over the course of the three-year contract. Beginning in January, the employees will also receive free individual health insurance coverage.
David Cornish, a veteran and former Nabisco employee, was one of the first employees at Allied Barton Security Services to push for a union. Now he is seeing his efforts rewarded.
“I was making $17 an hour at Nabisco and it took years to get back to that,” he said, adding that the enhanced training he and the others will get will “protect the people of Pittsburgh.”
The contract, negotiated by the Service Employees International Union local 32BJ, covers security personnel working within the City of Pittsburgh in buildings larger than 100,000 square feet.
“This is the first time an entire industry has been unionized in Pittsburgh in decades,” said Sam Williamson, 32BJ western Pennsylvania director. “And it means that those increased wages will be shared, spent in groceries and barbershops and bodegas across the city.”
It also means the guards will receive additional training, required by the Safe and Secure Buildings Act, pushed through city council by Councilman Rev. Ricky Burgess in May.
“This contract is the first fruit of an effort to make sure Pittsburgh is livable for everyone,” Burgess said. “This is the template for unionizing many industries across the city.”
Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network President Rev. Rodney Lyde echoed Burgess in praising the agreement.
“This should go down in the annals of history because it secures these workers a guaranteed path out of poverty,” he said. “It sets the standard for all other industries in Pittsburgh. It’s a great day.”
The nine security firms that agreed to the contract are: Allied Barton Security Services, Chesley Brown, G4S, International Investigative Services, I.S.S., Securitas, S.O.S., St. Moritz Security Services, and Universal Protective Services.
A 10th firm, U.S. Security Associates, would not agree to the same package as the other nine, but is continuing negotiations. That firm employs 250 security guards at the University of Pittsburgh.
“To date, they have not been willing to agree to the same terms and conditions as the other nine contractors,” Williamson said. “We would expect that the fight will escalate if we don’t reach an agreement in the near future.
A lawsuit has already been filed by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Pittsburgh challenging the safe buildings act’s authority to impose training standards on employees of private firms.
The SEIU is also negotiating a new contract for janitors in Downtown buildings. Their current one expires Oct. 31.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
 
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