Local Security Guards Seek New Contract At Cambridge Rally

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Security guards across Greater Boston are preparing to rally in Cambridge amid ongoing contract negotiations with their employers.

Members of 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union will gather outside the Kendall Square/MIT Red Line station from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The rally will include remarks from Cambridge City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Cambridge security guard Andrew Harris, and union Security Field Supervisor Carmen Fonseca as workers call for a new contract with affordable health insurance.

The union represents approximately 3,200 private, unarmed security guards across Greater Boston, including workers at Cambridge biotech companies, Boston office buildings, MIT, and Northeastern University. Workers have been without a contract since their previous agreement expired July 31. Negotiations began June 23, with the union seeking wage increases and changes to health insurance coverage. According to the union, the two sides have not reached an agreement on either issue.

The previous four-year agreement covered several contractors, including Northeast Security, Allied Universal, and Securitas. Its wage schedule listed a base hourly rate of $23 and a starting rate of $22.05 beginning in January for covered positions in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Quincy. The agreement also required employers to offer medical insurance to full-time employees.

The union said the available health plans have limited coverage, high deductibles, and costly monthly premiums, leading some guards to seek coverage elsewhere or go without insurance.

“I pay $304 a month for a Health Connector plan, which I use since it is less expensive than the company plan,” security officer and member of the union’s bargaining committee Samuel Rodrigues said. “On top of that, I pay $90 every month for my mental health medications. Most of the time, I am forced to ration my dosages because I could not afford them otherwise. And I know costs for the Health Connector could go up.”

Earlier this year, 32BJ and the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center released “Healthcare, Who Can Afford It?” The report examined health coverage for contracted security officers and service workers at Logan Airport.

According to the report, approximately one-third of full-time security guards represented by the union in Boston were enrolled in their employer’s health insurance. An internal union survey found that 33 percent of officers reported receiving coverage through MassHealth or the Health Connector, while 15 percent reported being uninsured. The report describes the survey as unscientific.

Nearly one-quarter of security officers surveyed reported delaying medical appointments or treatments within the previous five years because of cost concerns. Another 16 percent reported taking on debt from medical appointments or treatment during that period.

The campaign previously brought demonstrators to Ruggles station in September in support of security guards working at Northeastern University. The union is seeking the same health plan provided to the university’s janitors, who work through a different contractor.

Northeastern told The Huntington News that the university was not involved in negotiations between Northeast Security and the union and hoped the two sides would reach a mutually acceptable agreement.

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