2,500 NJ Security Guards Fight For Pandemic Raises – And Get Them

NEWARK, NJ — Thousands of security officers across New Jersey have been demanding raises and more workplace protections after toiling on the front-line of the coronavirus pandemic for more than a year. And on Thursday – just hours before their contracts expired – they got them.

According to labor union 32BJ SEIU, more than 2,500 security officers in 10 counties have reached a tentative agreement for a new, four-year contract with their employers, averting a possible strike.

Together, the workers protect more than 150 properties valued at an estimated $7.5 billion, including offices for 22 Fortune 500 companies, “critical infrastructure sites” and major cultural institutions, and seven colleges and universities with more than 47,000 students throughout Hudson, Essex, Union, Bergen, Passaic, Middlessex, Mercer, Morris, Monmouth and Somerset counties.

The new agreement, which runs through Sept. 30, 2025, stipulates a $2.45 per hour and $17 per hour minimum by the end of the contract (which is currently at $13.75). It also adds Juneteenth, Christmas and Veterans Day as holidays, and allows officers to maintain employer-paid health benefits, union spokespeople said. Security officers also gained bereavement leave stipulations and discharge protections, and the deals include protection against discrimination for attributes historically associated with non-white racial groups, such as hairstyles.

Union members will meet to vote on the contracts in October, 32BJ SEIU stated.

If they get the final sign off, the new contracts are expected be a big boost for employees such as Tyshawn Barnes, who works for Allied Universal Security at Hudson Community College.

“This past year has been extremely difficult to serve as a security officer and as an essential worker,” Barnes said when bargaining kicked off in August. “We put our lives at risk and our families' health on the line when we showed up to work, while everyone stayed home. This contract negotiation is about showing us the respect we deserve for the sacrifices that we have made.”

Kevin Brown, 32BJ vice president and New Jersey state director, said that over the past year and a half, the security workers have undertaken a laundry list of new duties. Their new tasks include running temperature checking stations, enforcing mask mandates and overseeing other COVID-19 policies – all of which can potentially place themselves and their families in harm’s way.

“Obtaining a contract that reflects these changes and risks is a matter of justice and respect,” Brown said.

• See related article: Thousands Of NJ Security Guards Want Pay Raises Amid Pandemic

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