Los Angeles Largest Corporate Real Estate Owners Announce Support for SEIU Security
Los Angeles’ Largest Corporate Real Estate Owners Announce Support for SEIU Security Officers’ Contract with Higher Wages and Family Healthcare
The Blackstone Group, Jamison Services, Maguire Properties Urge
Their Security Contractors to Settle Contract Without Delay
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles’ largest commercial real estate owners, The Blackstone Group, Jamison Services and Maguire Properties today announced their support for higher wages and family healthcare for the security officers that protect their properties and urged their security contractors to settle a fair contract for security officers as soon as possible. Today’s announcement signals a sea change in how the corporate real estate industry views and values the security workers that protect their tenants and properties and clears the way for the first-ever union contract of its kind in Southern California. “Blackstone supports the SEIU’s goals of providing affordable family health insurance benefits to building security officers in Los Angeles. We would encourage our security contractors to work together with the SEIU in a productive manner to reach a fair contract,” said Stuart Korshak, labor counsel for Blackstone. The Blackstone Group,through its ownership of Equity Office Properties and Trizec, is one of the largest commercial building owners in California. Blackstone uses Universal Protection Services (UPS) and ABM Security Services
(ABM) subcontractors to protect their properties. “We understand that there will be some increased costs to us as a result of these improvements, but we believe that these expenses ultimately add value for our investments and improves quality for our tenants,” said Paul T. Kim, President of Jamison Services. Jamison owns 22 million square feet of commercial office space in Los Angeles,most of that protected by the UPS and ABM. “Maguire Properties encourages the Building Owners and Managers Association of greater Los Angeles (BOMA-LA) to work together with the security contractors and the SEIU, in the same productive manner in which they have done in negotiations for other building services, to reach a fair contract as soon as possible,” said Peggy Moretti, Senior Vice President of Maguire Properties. “Maguire has always been committed to pay fair wages and full health benefits to its workers and as a result has historically had low turnover and very high productivity.”
Maguire is the largest commercial office real estate owner in Downtown Los Angeles, and primarily uses UPS to protect its properties. “This historic and unprecedented step by the city’s largest building owners, calling on their contractors to raise wages and provide family healthcare, should bring us a fair contract before the holidays,” said Faith Culbreath, President of SEIU Local 2006 Security Officers United in Los Angeles (SOULA).
Beacon Capital Partners and RREEF also sent letters to their security contractors indicating their support for raising security officers’ wages and benefits up to standard with other union contract service workers in commercial properties. Contract Negotiations to Resume This Week The news comes as contract negotiations are scheduled to resume on Friday, November 30. Both UPS and ABM are among the city’s top five security contractors currently in negotiations with the security officers’ union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local2006 for what will be the first-ever contract for private security officers in Southern California.
The contract will cover 4,000 security officers that work in hundreds of high-rises and commercial properties in Downtown L.A., Century City, Mid-Wilshire, the San Fernando Valley and throughout the county. Security officers have been organizing for more than five years to win higher wages and family healthcare among other issues in the contract negotiations. “There’s only one thing at the top of my family’s holiday wishlist, a union contract,” said Michael Johnson, security officer and father of five.
“We’ve come too far to turn back now and with the city’s major owners saying this can be done, we’re confident we’ll get a contract with decent wages and family healthcare, just like everyone else we work with in our buildings gets.” Community Response to Real Estate Industry’s Call for Big Boost in Wages, Benefits “With these real estate giants stepping forward toward justice, it leaves the contractors and other owners with no where to hide,” said Rev. Dr. Lewis E. Logan II, Senior Pastor Bethel A.M.E. Church and leader of the Stand for Security Coalition of clergy, congregations and community leaders united to support security officers’ struggle for justice.
Security officers are widely looked to as the first-responders toon-site emergencies, yet security officers currently working in the commercial real estate industry throughout Los Angeles earn on average $21,000 a year and do not have affordable healthcare for themselves or their families. Low wages and lack of healthcare drive a turnover rate among security officers that experts place as high as 300% annually,well above the average turnover rate of the fast food industry.
With such high turnover in the industry, security officers are unable to get the training and experience they need to be important partners in public safety. “We need to professionalize the private security industry in order to improve security officers’ training and coordination with the city’s police, fire and emergency response teams. This is how we achieve better public safety, with a good contract for security officers that provides decent wages and family healthcare,” said Council member Bernard Parks.
There are more than 1 million private security officers working in America today, which is more than twice the total number of all police officers. Private security is one of the top ten fastest growing industries in the nation, and one that is dominated by African American workers. Nearly 70% of Los Angeles’ private security officers are African American and most live in South Los Angeles. Most of the county’s security officers live in South Los Angeles and even though they work full-time protecting multibillion-dollar properties, they still earn wages that qualify them for food stamps and other public assistance.
Without access to quality, affordable healthcare, security officers do what many Californian’s without health coverage do; they rely on emergency rooms and public clinics for their healthcare needs. Other building service workers such as the building operating engineers, janitors, parking attendants and window washers receive decent wages and full family healthcare through their union contracts.
“By turning these dead-end security jobs into good jobs that you can raise a family on, we’re really helping to rebuild the black middle class and bring dignity and respect to thousands of hard-working men, women and their families,” said Council member Herb Wesson, who once worked as a private security officer before entering public service as an elected leader.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is the nation’s largest security officers’ union, representing nearly 55,000 security officers and public safety officials. With more than 1.9 million members overall, SEIU is the nation’s largest and fastest growing union. SEIUG in a Bowers, 310-291-5711orBlackstoneStuart Korshak, 310-996-2340 or Jamison Services Paul T. Kim, 213-365-5000or Maguire Properties Peggy Moretti, 213-613-4558