McGinn holds guard meeting

and CHARLES ORNSTEIN McGinn Services Security guards gathered yesterday for what some called a "yelling session" with McGinn officials. The guards, who work the 4 p.m. to midnight shift, assembled in Graduate Tower A yesterday afternoon for approximately 40 minutes in a closed meeting to talk "about policy and procedure" with Joseph McGinn Sr. and Joseph McGinn Jr., guards said. The meeting follows allegations made by some McGinn guards last week that some guards sleep on the job and that guards receive inadequate background checks, insufficient training and poor supervision from McGinn. "It was disgraceful," said one guard last night, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "People were hollering questions and [McGinn Sr.] was telling certain people to shut up . . . it was a yelling session." Although Daily Pennsylvanian reporters were not allowed inside, yelling could be heard through the door. The guard said that all the questions "guards wanted to ask" were hushed up. "When someone asked about the $899,500 that McGinn made each year from Penn, [McGinn Sr.] said it was none of their business," the guard said. "Anything that had to do with management or money, he wouldn't discuss," another guard said. The guards said last night that McGinn discussed proper uniforms, expectations of guards and a new, revised training packet to be released soon. Several guards said that McGinn Sr. again instructed his employees not to speak with DP reporters. They added that McGinn told his guards that if they were unhappy with the job, they could find other jobs. Another guard said that McGinn Sr. would not answer questions pertaining to the article published Monday in The Daily Pennsylvanian. "He didn't want to hear suggestions," the guard said. "He just wanted to talk about uniforms and procedures . . . nothing else." Several guards said last night that nothing was mentioned at the meeting about sleeping on the job or background checks. "The employees were angry [that these topics were not discussed]," a guard said. "The morale is low among some of the guards because of the allegations by the DP," McGinn Jr. said. One guard said the meeting was "of no use." "He just had to have it to show he was doing something," the guard said. The guards said that the McGinns were trying to gloss over what had happened in the past and cover up what was going wrong. "Don't try to shut the barn door now that the horse is out," the guard said. McGinn Sr. said he wanted to improve the morale of his employees. "We have to keep our people's heads up," he said.