Article Originally Published Here
About 2,000 New Jersey security guards and their employers have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract, averting a potential strike that could have left countless locations unsecured and even without janitorial services.
The largely Black and brown guards belonging to Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, had been scheduled for a strike authorization vote on Wednesday, with the possibility of a walkout three days later, union officials said.
Instead, union officials said rank-and-file members ratified the deal in a vote late Wednesday afternoon during a gathering at Essex County College in Newark, a city where 32BJ is headquartered and many of the guards work in office towers and large educational, health and arts institutions. The union did not immediately provide a vote count.
The agreement followed months of off-and-on negotiations between the union and the guards’ principal employers, Allied Universal Security Services of Irvine, California, and Securitas of Stockholm, Sweden, two of the world’s biggest security contractors.
The main terms include what the union called “historic” pay hikes of up to 29.41% over the four-year life of the agreement for guards previously earning the minimum of $17 an hour.
Workers who had earned more than the minimum will see a $4-per-hour increase over the four years, the union said, adding that the new average hourly pay for all guards will rise to $23.65.
Beyond the pay hikes, the union said members were guaranteed improved paid holidays and “high-quality” health benefits with no cost sharing.
“This is a win built by the courage and unity of our members,” Ana María Hill, 32BJ’s vice president and New Jersey director, said in an announcement Wednesday.
“For months,” Hill said, “these officers stood up, spoke out, and made it clear that they would not back down until they were treated with dignity and respect. Their fight has raised the standard for thousands of workers who keep our state safe.”
Spokespeople for Allied Universal and Securitas did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
The union has staged demonstrations in recent months to call attention to the expiration of the last collective bargaining agreement on Sept. 15.
They included an Oct. 22 rally outside University Hospital in Newark, one of the many large institutions secured by union guards in New Jersey.
Hill said at the time that union janitors working in the same buildings had pledged to honor picket lines in the event of a strike, meaning those buildings would have gone unsecured and unclean.
The post N.J. security guards reach deal with up to 29% pay hike, averting strike appeared first on Security Guard Services Magazine.
