As the University prepared to celebrate Making History at Penn Park, security guards rallied on Shoemaker Green to protest for an improved contract with AlliedBarton.
Members of the Philadelphia Security Officer’s Union, together with students from the Student Labor Action Project, rallied on Friday to advocate for higher wages, more sick days and better working conditions, equipment and health insurance.
“All we want is a fair contract,” patrol officer Tim Bullock said. “We think we’re not asking for too much.”
The protest comes after one held last Friday and a meeting on Wednesday between PSOU’s negotiation team and AlliedBarton, during which neither side wanted to budge on the issues, according to Bullock.
During Friday’s protest, the group walked from Shoemaker Green to College Green and then proceeded down Locust Walk. Throughout their march, they chanted about their service to the community and what they felt they deserved.
PSOU union organizer Fabricio Rodriguez said the officers are protesting now because “these guys didn’t go … this long to just go to the bargaining table. They will keep [applying] the pressure until they get a contract.”
“What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now!” the protesters chanted.
About 25 officers attended the rally, which Rodriguez said is “pretty much everyone who is not asleep [from their night shift] or working.”
According to Terrell Rivers, a patrol officer and one of PSOU’s negotiators, the main point of controversy right now deals with officers’ wages and the number of sick days they receive each year.
“We have made a lot of concessions and they haven’t made any changes,” Rivers said, noting that the officers’ wages have not been increased in over two years.
College senior and SLAP member Erica Kimmel said that she supported what the officers were doing because “this is my cause too.”
“I see [these officers] all the time,” Kimmel said. “They’re part of my daily life … and it’s important to recognize [them].”
Close to 80 patrol officers first joined PSOU on April 11, 2012. Since then, the union has been in negotiations with AlliedBarton, but has yet to reach a contract with the company.
AlliedBarton has not yet responded to request for comment.
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