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Temple, It's More Than Just A Dream
After years of struggle, AlliedBarton security officers finally won up to three days of paid sick leave. Though this is a step in the right direction, this benefit will only help a small fraction of the security guards. Security Officers who are forced to come to work while ill or injured are also forced to sacrifice student and faculty safety...
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: AlliedBarton Guards
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am writing to you to express my concern about the sick-leave policy for the AlliedBarton Security Officers at Temple University.
In February, Ann Weaver Hart took the first steps toward making Temple University and AlliedBarton guards more safe and secure.
When you awarded security guards up to three days of paid sick-leave (for FULL TIME guards who have been on the account for more than a year) you acknowledged your roll in addressing these problems.
However, very few of the guards on campus get any benefit at all. Maybe as few as 20% of the workers meet all of the criteria to even get one paid sick day. This means that the vast majority of the workers still cannot properly deal with their health issues.
You can fix the sick day issue by extending it to every guard, regardless of how many hours they work, from the first day of hire.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
March 25, 2008
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More about the new Temple University sick day policy for AlliedBarton security officers...
The new policy gives full-time security guards, who have been on the account for one year one day of paid sick leave per year. This increases by one day, per year, up to the maximum of three days.
We applaud Ann Weaver Hart for begrudgingly awarding a part of our original demand (five days of paid sick leave for all guards). If nothing else, this at least shows that Dr. Hart sees her role in insuring the well-being of workers at Temple. However, on closer inspection, it becomes clear that this concession is little more than a public relations stunt for Temple.
There are approximately 350 Allied Barton security guards at Temple University. None of the guards have any power to insure that they reach the 35 hour thresh hold, nor hours per year thatit will take for AlliedBarton to consider them "full-time." Of the 350 securty guards, we estimate that only 170 of them could be considered full-time. In private security as in all low-waged jobs, worker turnover (people quiting or getting fired) is often 100%. This means that a worker will rarely stay on the job for one year.
Despite the new policy, the problem of workers being forced to work while sick or injured or to not care for ailing children, has not been addressed by the new policy. In fact, as few as 20% of the workers may actually be able to use even a single day of the new benefit. That is only 35-40 workers!
On April 4th of this year, our nation will recall the 40 year anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was murdered while in Memphis, TN while fighting for trash collectors who were trying to raise their working conditions, wages and benefits on their jobs through unionization. All of the trash collectors were black.
40 years later, it is surprising to see that, economic and systemic barriers have created a new mass of black workers who struggle against the odds to win their rights and a voice on the job. Private security has been a booming industry since 9/11. Thousands of workers in our city are security guards, 97% of them are black. The Philadelphia Officers and Workers Rising campaign of Jobs with Justice is proof that Dr. King’s legacy isn’t just a relic of the past. These efforts prove that “It Is More Than Just A Dream.”
With your help we can reform this industry, this company and the clients that avoid treating workers right by hiding behind their sub-contractors. When we do, tens of millions of dollars will flow into some of our cities most underserved and impoverished neighborhoods.
Let Temple University President, Ann Weaver Hart, know that she cannot wait to make REAL changes for the workers now!
"It's More Than Just A Dream" Commemorative Service
April 6, 2008, 3pm-5pm
Arch St. Methodist Church
55 N. Broad St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
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