Security Guard Organizing Drive Makes Progress

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

"It's not a matter of if, but when" thousands of area security guards win a union, said SEIU Local 82 President Valarie Long last Wednesday. "Guards take their responsibility as first responders very seriously," said Long, "they deserve good pay, job security and proper training." Local organizers reported on the progress of the security guard organizing campaign. The majority of the local security guards protecting hundreds of DC-area buildings
are African-American women, reported Local 82 Secretary-Treasurer Jaime Contreras, "many of whom head single-parent families, yet who make just $8 an hour." Local 82
is organizing the guards and - in coalition with the Labor Council and local community groups -- pushing a bill mandating training requirements in DC City Council. "These guards are owed the same dignity and respect as all the other security personnel in our community," added Metro Council President Jos Williams.