Big Wage Hike For Security Employees

[Labor News]

Months of negotiations with national security contractors AlliedBarton and FJC have culminated with new union contracts that provide significant wage increases, employer-paid family health care and benefits for some 3,000 City-contracted security officers over three years.

“For too long, private security officers were left behind in low-wage, dead-end jobs,” said Mike Fishman, President of 32BJ. “The contracts we standards and win respect for private security officers, not just in New York, but in all cities.”

AlliedBarton employs 1,100 security officers who work at more than 100 City facilities throughout the City, including the Municipal Building in Manhattan, Staten Island Ferry Terminals and Brooklyn Borough Hall. FJC employs 1,820 security officers who protect sites in the City’s Human Resources Administration agency and Department of Homeless Services.

The two new agreements raise officers’ wages to private-sector wages of over $13 an hour. Officers also gain employer-paid family health coverage, paid days off, 401K and advanced security training.

“Our greatest needs were family health care, job security and annual wage increases,” said Enoch Edmond, an AlliedBarton officer working in Manhattan. “This contract gives us that and more.”

For six months, the union has negotiated on behalf of security officers protecting City buildings and facilities in all five boroughs. These City-contracted workers now join thousands of other 32BJ members who have won contracts improving security standards in the private sector.

“This is an inspiring victory for thousands of security officers, their families and communities,” said Reverend Johnny Ray Youngblood of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Brooklyn. “These workers have shown that by uniting together in a union they can win the living wages and health care they deserve.”

“The best outcome for workers, employers and the public is achieved when labor and management work together,” said Fishman. “AlliedBarton and FJC should be commended for working with 32BJ to professionalize the security industry so officers receive the pay they need to make ends meet and the training they need to provide first-rate security at city buildings.”

With more than 110,000 members in eight states and Washington D.C., including 70,000 members in New York, 32BJ is the largest property service union in the country.

The union’s campaign to raise security industry standards has lead to higher wages, more benefits and professional training for over 8,000 security officers in New York City.