SEIU 49 secures first contract for 450 private security officers
Contract delivers raises
and better benefits at
Securitas, ABM, G4S,
and AlliedBarton
There were tears of joy down at the
union hall May 4 as a group of private
security officers approved a first-ever
industry-wide agreement with Port-
land-area security contractors.
“Now we can actually go see a doc-
tor,” said John Dearborn, who patrols
City of Portland facilities as an em-
ployee of G4S.
About 450 security officers became
members of Service Employees Inter-
national Union (SEIU) Local 49 last
August, and now a union contract is de-
livering raises and improved benefits at
four large companies with operations in
the Portland area: Securitas, ABM,
G4S (formerly Wackenhut), and Al-
liedBarton. Local 49 spokesperson
Jesse Stemler said collectively the four
companies have 80 percent share of the
Portland-area market for security serv-
ices.
SEIU — which represents 35,000
security professionals in 13 other U.S.
cities — was able last year to get com-
mitments from the four companies to
remain neutral during organizing ef-
forts among Portland employees —
and to recognize and bargain with the
union once a majority of workers had
shown support by signing union cards.
Dearborn, a former law enforcement
officer in the U.S. Air Force, says he
was skeptical when union organizers
first knocked on his door. But online re-
search, and his daughter’s experience
as a Teamster-represented UPS em-
ployee, convinced him to sign the card,
help the campaign, and ultimately be-
come a member of the team that met
with company representatives to bar-
gain the contract.
The first-time contract that resulted
contains immediate 30-cent raises for
security officers employed at govern-
ment buildings and within Portland city
limits — followed by 30-cent raises in
January 2014, March 2015, and March
2016. Officers working outside Port-
land (about a third of the total) get 25-
cent raises on those dates. The contract
expires Feb. 28, 2017.
The contract also sets a wage floor
of $9.50 an hour for security officers in
Portland, and $9.25 an hour outside of
Portland. Union organizer Will Layng
says most officers currently are paid
more than that — in the $10 to $11 an
hour range — but the wage floor means
they can’t be paid less. The raises were
on top of whatever pay officers were
previously earning.
The contract also provides much-
improved health insurance. Companies
will pay $333 a month for employee-
only medical coverage provided by
Kaiser Permanente, with employees
contributing an additional $55 a month.
Previously workers paid around $200 a
month, and as a result, less than half
opted into the insurance, Layng said.
Both employer and employee contribu-
tions will rise in future years.
Security officers affiliated with SEIU Local 49 rally outside City Hall March 15 after marching with picket signs
past many high-profile officer towers that they’re entrusted to protect. On April 4, they voted to authorize the
bargaining team to call a strike. And on May 4, they ratified a first-time union contract with raises, improved benefits,
and job security protections.
Workers will also receive one week
of paid vacation per year after one year
of service, two weeks a year after five
years, three weeks after 10 years, and
four weeks after 15 years. There’s be-
reavement leave, one paid day and
three unpaid. And they’ll have paid
time off which they can use for per-
sonal reasons: 1 day a year after a year
of service, two days after three years,
and three days after five years. When
scheduled to work on holidays, workers
Expires 05/31/2013
MAY 17, 2013
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
will be paid time-and-a-half. The con-
tract does not include a retirement plan.
The contract has many other fea-
tures that increase job security, Dear-
born says. It’s a competitive industry,
and as the contract was being bar-
gained, Dearborn said, G4S won a local
contract with Wells Fargo, replacing
another company. Pay was cut $4 an
hour, and the incumbent security offi-
cers left. That practice is barred now:
Under the new contract, when a con-
tract changes hands, security officers at
a location get the option to keep their
jobs, with the same pay, benefits, and
seniority, working for the new em-
ployer. And security officers who are
members of the armed forces can return
to their jobs with no loss of seniority af-
ter they’re called up for active duty.
“This [contract] is a great victory for
the common people,” Dearborn said.
Several members were moved to tears
during the ratification vote, Dearborn
said — overcome by emotion at the
prospect of a contract that provides af-
fordable access to a doctor, and job se-
curity for security officers.
The contract campaign in Portland
is part of a broader effort, dubbed
“Stand for Security,” in which SEIU
has been trying to persuade building
owners of the value of a unionized in-
dustry. Better wages and benefits would
reduce turnover, for example — and
lessen the danger of security breaches
by dissatisfied former employees.
“Officers who stay on the job under-
stand their workplaces better and are
better prepared to respond quickly and
effectively to problems that arise,” the
union argues in a white paper aimed at
building owners. “Experienced officers
have the confidence of knowing who
should be on the premises and who
should not.”
And an industry-wide agreement —
the union has argued — takes wages
out of competition and lets companies
compete without sacrificing quality.
Lansing tapped
to international
Bakers Union
executive board
Terry Lansing, financial secretary
of Portland-based Bakers Local 114,
has been elected to the General Execu-
tive Board of the Bak-
ery, Confectionery,
Tobacco Workers and
Grain Millers Interna-
tional Union. He is the
first person from Lo-
cal 114 to ever serve
in such a capacity. He
succeeds Donna Scar-
TERRY
ano, president of Oak-
LANSING
land, Calif., Bakers
Local 125, who announced her retire-
ment at the General Executive Board
held in San Francisco the last week of
March.
Lansing, 62, was asked to fill the
Region 6 vacancy by International
President David Durkee. “He called
and asked if I would be interested in a
seat on the board, and I accepted,”
Lansing told the Labor Press.
Lansing will have to run for a full
four-year term at the next international
union convention, which is in July
2014. The board is comprised of three
representatives from six districts, plus
the international union president and
secretary-treasurer.
Region 6 covers the western United
States, including Oregon, Washington,
California, Idaho, Montana, Colorado,
Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and
Wyoming.
Additionally, Lansing was elected
vice president of the Western Confer-
ence of the BCTGM. He has served as
a trustee for the past three years.
PAGE 5