Last summer, the university switched security contractors from Allied Barton to McGinn Security. The workers who stayed during the switch were forced to take a pay cut.
“When McGinn took over at PhilaU, we all got a $3 per hour pay cut. I was making $12.50 an hour. Now I make $9.50 an hour. I struggle to pay my bills and have a difficult time finding people to watch my son because I can no longer afford childcare,” said security officer Erica Cody, who has worked at the university for the past four years. “I get written up by my managers without reason. I got written up when I had to call out because my son was sick and no one could take care of him. I even had a doctor’s note. I had to travel two hours in the cold with my son to their office on Delaware Ave. to sign my Write Up. They never compensated me for travel.”
SEIU 32BJ alleges that McGinn Security undermines area standards, paying officers in the City of Philadelphia as little as $7.50 an hour, leaving officers and their families in poverty. According to SEIU Local 32BJ, that despite past citations from the Department of Labor for failing to pay workers the minimum wage, McGinn continues to mistreat the 50 security officers that they employ at PhilaU. Protesting security officers feel that PhilaU’s decision to use McGinn Security not only leaves the officers and their families in poverty but forces them to rely on public assistance which will cost taxpayers half a million dollars over the next four years.
This protest comes on the heels of a Feb. 19 protest where workers attempted to deliver a petition to McGinn security calling for better wages and conditions. At the Feb. 27 protest, a delegation of several security officers attempted to enter the fundraiser to deliver a letter to PhilaU President, Stephen Spinelli.
“We perform an important job at PhilaU,” said Josette Bates, an overnight security officer at PhilaU. “We are the first line of defense for these students. We just want to be treated fairly.”
Source :Montgomery Media