Guards Score Long-Awaited Wage Increase

Harvard’s security guards will receive a long-awaited increase in their starting wages, the opportunity for an escalating pay scale, and a new grievance procedure—among other benefits—as part of a contract negotiated by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the guard’s employer, AlliedBarton.

The final contract was settled on June 6 after a protracted negotiation between the two parties. The guards unionized in December of 2006, gaining the ability to bargain for wages collectively through the SEIU.

"This is a significant victory for the officers who persevered for over two years to see this reach this point," said Lauren Jacobs, the director of organizing at SEIU Local 615.

According to Jacobs, the starting wage for every worker will be increased from $12.68 to $14.50 per hour. The SEIU had set its standard of a "living wage" for the guards at $15 during negotiations.

But with the new contract, guards now have the chance to increase their hourly wage according to levels of training and seniority. Earlier, the pay rate was uniform for all hired workers. With the possibility for increase, the average wage will likely be between $14.75 and $15.15, Jacobs said.

"It is important to know that the training component of this is a critical part agreed upon by [the involved parties]," said David Silvey, the vice president and general manager for the Northeast region of AlliedBarton. He explained that the professionalism of the security industry is of great importance to the company, and accordingly, the contract "tied the [wage] increases to that."

Jacobs said that the sense of professionalism in the security industry is of importance from the workers’ end as well.

"One thing that we've talked about a lot is the professionalizing of the work…the broader community has made high demands of this industry, and workers want training and prep to meet those demands and also level of skill," she said.

Both Jacobs and Silvey cited the value of collective bargaining in getting the contract drawn up and settled.

"The workers were recognized as a union, and they spoke collectively and with one voice—that’s always a different arena to talk to your employer in," Jacobs said.

While student action on campus pushing Harvard to address the issue captured a good deal of attention, Harvard Spokesman Joe Wrinn said that the contract was settled entirely between SEIU and AlliedBarton, with no real influence from the University.

Last month, AlliedBarton passed Harvard’s annual audits, performed with the goal of ensuring that the company was in line with the University’s hiring and wage practices, Wrinn said.

Yet the attention brought to the issue by student protests—such as the nine-day hunger strike that hospitalized two undergraduates—may have escalated stagnant bargaining efforts, said Alyssa M. Aguilera ’08-’09, one of the student protesters.

"The guards told us repeatedly that bargaining was really stagnant, but once the hunger strike was happening, there was movement around the issue," said Aguilera. "A lot of workers told us that when we started, it became easier for them to become outspoken."

She said that Stand for Security—the coalition of student groups which advocated for higher wages for the guards—would likely continue to support the guards on any small disputes that may arise in the next year, though the group is happy with the new contract. Jacobs and Silvey said that all issues of concern were addressed by the agreement.

"It was very professional—every article was addressed from both sides…there was never really an impasse," Silvey said. "At the end of the day, everybody left the bargaining table happy."

—Staff writer Aditi Balakrishna can be reached at balakris@fas.harvard.edu.