“Dollars not cents” was among the slogans security guards chanted during a union rally Monday afternoon on Temple University’s campus.
The phrase is not just rhetorical. Allied Universal’s latest contract proposal incorporated yearly pay increases of between 65 and 75 cents an hour, according to representatives from 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union.
“The raise that they are currently offering is not enough,” said Daquan Gardner, an Allied University security officer at Temple University Hospital. “Not when rent is sky high. Not when food and gas keep going up. Not when everything around us costs more, and our pay stays the same.”
Allied employs more than 14,000 guards in Philadelphia, and about 3,000 are represented by 32BJ. They are stationed at colleges, medical centers, Center City office buildings and other locations. An overwhelming majority of officers, the union notes, are Black and brown.
Union organizers held a ‘day of action’ Monday, passing out information to raise awareness about the labor fight and warning that a strike could be imminent. 32BJ’s contract with Allied expired Sept. 30, officials said.
“Allied Universal has good working relationships with unions around the country, including the SEIU, and we are engaged in good faith negotiations with the SEIU to renew the existing collective bargaining agreement in Philadelphia,” a spokesperson for the multinational company told Metro in a statement.
The firm has about 800,000 workers in more than 100 counties, making it the third-largest private employer in North America and seventh in the world, according to its website. Allied’s annual revenue tops $23 billion.
“They got the money to pay these officers,” Daisy Cruz, 32BJ’s district director, said.
32BJ concentrated Monday’s efforts on properties run by Temple and Temple Health, in an attempt to pressure a major Allied client. While the union’s contract sets a minimum salary of $16.25 an hour, some sites offer more. Guards at Temple are among the lowest paid, according to Cruz.
University representatives said that the college is not involved in negotiating the terms and conditions of Allied’s contract with 32BJ.
“Nonetheless, we value the important contributions of Allied’s employees who are SEIU members and recognize the key role they play in helping to maintain the safety of our campus community,” Temple added, in a statement.
Stephanie Gibson, an Allied officer at Temple Hospital, told those assembled at Monday’s rally that she is in “survival mode.” A mother of six, she was recently evicted and forced to move in with her own mother.
“There is not enough room,” Gibson said. “I work two jobs, which is over 60 hours a week, back-to-back shifts. That's still not enough to pay bills and buy food.”
A 32BJ survey of more than 500 guards found that more than half reported having skipped meals or cut back on groceries. About 40% said they were unable to make timely rent or mortgage payments.
Aside from pay, the union’s other priority is enhanced training.
Legislation pending in City Council would require security companies to cover at least 40 hours of initial classes for each employee provided by an outside nonprofit and an additional eight hours in ongoing training. Amendments are expected before a final vote.
Building owners and companies have complained about the potential extra expenses associated with the bill, and the leader of an industry association suggested to the Inquirer that the regulations are a 32BJ bargaining ploy, which the union has denied.
“Every time I hear anything about certain legislation in City Council, you know the first thing they tell me – how much money it's going to cost us,” the legislation’s sponsor, at-large member Isaiah Thomas, said at Monday’s union rally.
“I don't think it's fair for you to tell us how much money something's going to cost you if you're not telling us how much you pay your workers. Don't tell me what's going to cost you millions of dollars when you're making millions of dollars in profit and paying people to be poor.”
