In The News -- SEIU 32BJ -- In The News

Private security guards may soon see their salaries nearly double courtesy of the D.C. City Council, which heard testimony last week on whether a $6 raise is in order to match these officers’ wages with those of their federal and municipal peers.

Several officers testified that their current wages - hovering at $8 an hour for some - were not enough to support themselves and their families in a real estate market as expensive as the District’s.

Like most of the nation’s 1.1 million security officers, private security guards in the District’s commercial offices and apartment buildings are predominantly African American, according to the local branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

"I’m proud to be part of the city’s defense system," said security officer Chanta Jenifer, "but at $8.24 [an] hour, I can’t support my 3-year-old son."

Although the demand for professional protective services have grown, the men and women who provide these services are finding it harder to keep our heads above water financially, testified Johnnie Mason, an African American veteran security officer. "This legislation is long overdue. With these increased wages, I would be able to prepare for my retirement and help my daughter more with her college expenses," Mason said.

For many private guards in the District, the increase would nearly double their current wages, which can be less than half those of guards in government buildings, according to a statement from the SEIU. The bill follows the Enhanced Professional Security Act of 2006, which established training standards for private security officers in the city.

Some representatives of the security industry urged the council to reconsider the legislation, suggesting that the impact of the wage increase on private security firms could be detrimental.

"We have serious concerns about legislative efforts to artificially raise security officer salaries in the private sector in a manner that ignores market realities … and that singles out the security industry for price controls in a manner that is legally questionable," said Securitas Security Services Vice President Carl Rowan Jr.

Rowan and Nicola Y. Whiteman, vice president of the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington, which represents property managers in the District, cautioned that the proposed increase may result in a loss of jobs because building owners may scale back their security services.

"If security officers become too expensive … [property managers] will look at other options," Rowan said.

Despite these projections, a number of council members have expressed their support for the bill.

"I am completely committed to the fact that it’s economic justice and a moral imperative," said Ward 3 Councilmember Mary M. Cheh (D).

Imam Abdul Mali Johari, a coordinator with the Washington Interfaith Network, testified that the increase was justified because it would afford security guards, who do "everything a police officer does, except carry a gun and arrest people," a decent living.

"They’re going to be shot at whether they carry a gun or not," he said.

WASHINGTON - Private-sector security guards could be replaced with ill-prepared lobby attendants if the D.C. Council passes a law setting a minimum wage for trained guards, a council panel was told Thursday.

The Enhanced Professional Security Amendment Act, now under consideration by the council, would tie commercial office building guards’ salaries to those of their public-sector peers — currently $11.51 per hour for “Guard 1,” plus another $3 per hour for benefits under the federal Service Contract Act.

The measure, which could boost entry-level salaries up to 45 percent higher, “professionalizes the private security business” by ensuring those people who train to become guards are paid a respectable minimum wage, said Council Member Phil Mendelson, chairman of the public safety committee.

But setting a minimum wage does not require employers to pay the rate, the bill’s critics argued during a hearing on the legislation.

“Faced with the prospect of increased security costs, a building owner or manager, where possible, may decide to forgo utilizing security services and instead replace the security guard with a lobby attendant or other concierge service,” said Nicola Whiteman of the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington.

A guard’s core mission is to watch for suspicious activity, monitor those who enter and exit the building, squelch break-ins and forestall theft, guard Christina Scott said.

Most commercial buildings in D.C. house government offices, she said, so “we deserve equal compensation to that of government security officers.”

High turnover among private guards is largely due to insufficient pay, others said.

Replacing an incumbent workforce with inexperienced guards “decreases efficiency and increases costs to contractors and facility owners,” said Kathy Howell with the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which is pushing the bill.

Carl Rowan Jr., area vice president of Securitas Security Services USA Inc., said higher pay must not be achieved through “government price controls.” Allowing the market to determine salaries, he said, “will not destroy market realities, result in fewer officer jobs and cause a customer revolt.”

“It’s not a matter of what I think they should get,” Rowan said. “It’s a matter of what I can negotiate with my clients.”