Major union win: 500 Portland
security officers join SEIU #49
Local Motion
July 2012
A list of Oregon and Southwest Washington workplaces deciding
whether to be union-represented – as reported by the National
Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board.
Voting in union elections
Date Workplace (Location) Union
Yes
No
5
8
7/19 YoCream/Dannon (Portland) Teamsters Local 305
32
10
7/26 BrucePac (Woodburn, Silverton) Laborers Local 296
57
189
7/10 Franz Bakery maintenance engineers (Eugene) Bakers Local 114
Requesting a union election
Workplace (Location) Union
Number of workers in unit
Coca-Cola Bottling fleet mechanics (Wilsonville) Machinists District Lodge W24
City of LaPine Public Works (LaPine) Teamsters Local 962
L EGEND
: workers will be union-represented
DECERT
: workers will be on their own
: A decertification election occurs when some union-represented workers declare
that the union no longer has majority support. A ‘yes’ vote is a vote for the union.
THE KORPI LAW FIRM PLLC
Honoring Employees
on Labor Day
3
5
Securitas, ABM, G4S,
and AlliedBarton
agreed in July to
recognize and bargain
with SEIU Local 49
Four enormous national and global
security companies have agreed to
recognize Service Employees Interna-
tional Union (SEIU) — and begin ne-
gotiating a union contract — for about
500 Portland-area security guards. Se-
curitas, ABM, G4S (Wackenhut), and
AlliedBarton will begin bargaining
jointly with SEIU Local 49 in late Au-
gust, though it’s not yet known
whether that will result in individual
contracts or an area master agreement.
It could prove a triumph for secu-
rity guards, if the result is sizable
wage and benefit increases. The me-
dian wage is $11 an hour for Portland-
area security guards, says Local 49
property services organizing director
Will Layng, and benefits are minimal:
an annual one-week bonus, but no
paid sick days, no paid vacation, and
inadequate or unaffordable health in-
surance.
Michael Zak, 50, said he can’t af-
ford health insurance on the $10 an
hour he earns after three years at
ABM. A 17-year Oregon Army Na-
tional Guard veteran, he has access to
the Veterans Administration Hospital,
but his wife does not.
Michael H. Korpi
Attorney at Law
PAGE 6
rity guards for about two years, with
moral support from several religious
leaders and Oregon Representative
Jeff Barker (D-Aloha), former presi-
dent of the Portland Police Associa-
tion.
Thus, the union was ready to go
once the companies agreed to “card
check,” in which they recognize the
union once a neutral party verifies that
a majority of workers have signed au-
thorization cards. The card checks
took place in July for all four compa-
nies. ABM, with 107 Portland-area
employees, was the last of the four
companies to do so, with a card check
that took place July 31.
D ENNIS O’M ALLEY
Attorney at Law
Representing union
union members
members for
than
Representing
for more
more
than
years in in workers’
workers’ compensation
and
20 25
years
compensation
and
Social
cases.
Social Security
Security disability
disability cases.
135 Second Avenue North, Suite 202 - Edmonds, WA 98020
(425) 582-8935 - Email: mikek@korpilaw.com
from
“Health insurance for me and my
wife would be $460,” Zak said. “I
have to make a decision: Do I pay
medical or rent?”
“There are huge global corpora-
tions in this field, and they compete
with each other to drive down wages
and benefits,” Layng said.
But an agreement with SEIU could
take wages out of competition and al-
low the companies to compete on
service and other considerations.
SEIU’s campaign is known nation-
ally as Stand for Security, and is mod-
eled on the union’s Justice for Janitors
campaign. In the Portland area, Local
49 has been working to organize secu-
Honoring Workers this Labor Day
Representing employee benefit plans
in Oregon and Washington
for more than 20 years
Hope You Enjoy a
Great Weekend ...
Happy Labor
Day!
Private security officers at ABM hold up signed union authorization cards
from co-workers. In July, ABM, Securitas, G4S, and AlliedBarton voluntarily
recognized SEIU Local 49 for bargaining units totaling about 500 employees.
From left to right are Jim McPhee, Michael Zak, Terry Bailey, and Kevin
Stephens.
1500 NE Irving Street, Suite 370 • Portland, OR 97232 • 503-243-4899
Salem Building &
Construction Trades
Council
Joe Bowers, President
Leroy Marney, Secretary Treasurer
541-812-1771
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
AUGUST 17, 2012