Security Officers Reach Agreement To Raise Total Compensation

Jan 22, 2008 4:16 PM

Security Officers United in Los Angeles Local 2006 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's largest security officers union, representing 55,000 nationwide, has achieved a tentative agreement on their first union contract. If ratified, the contract will raise total compensation -- wages and health care -- by nearly 40 percent.

"We're all thrilled," says Michael Johnson, a security officer on the bargaining committee. "Finally I can take care of my family like a man, and do for them how I've always dreamed, just to give them opportunities that I never had."

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa was instrumental in bringing together the security officers union with the building owners and their security contractors to reach a settlement.

"Today we have a historic agreement that directly improves the lives of more than 4,000 hard-working Angelenos, and whose impact will be seen in families throughout South Los Angeles. This agreement has been six years in the making, and I could not be prouder that we were able to help make it happen," says Mayor Villaraigosa.

Security officers protect multi-million dollar properties, but the average hourly wage is $8.50 without access to affordable health care.

The tentative five-year pact is with the security firms that service 80 percent of the commercial real estate throughout Los Angeles County, including Universal Protection Services (UPS), ABM Security Services (ABM), Securitas, Guard Systems and Allied Barton. The contract, if ratified, would cover 4,000 workers at hundreds of worksites throughout Los Angeles County in commercial office buildings 75,000 square feet and above. The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) took part in the negotiations between the security contractors and the security officers union.

The security officers will vote to ratify or reject the contract on Saturday, Jan. 26.

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