Until last month, Dennis Viera, a security guard stationed at McBain and Ruggles for the last five years, feared that a serious illness, on top of his already high out-of-pocket health expenses, might send him into bankruptcy.
However, with a new contract that will take effect this week, 160 security officers who are, like Viera, employed by Summit Security to work at Columbia, will see their hourly wages and health care coverage improve dramatically.
Under the new contract, which is retroactive to when it was signed on March 1, wages will rise by as much as 45 percent for many officers to $14.75 an hour over the next four years.
Until a month ago, some officers were earning under $10 hourly, about $20,000 a year, full time, with virtually no benefits.
“I’m good at what I do, I know I am, so I know I deserve more,” Viera said, adding that he is thrilled with the new contract, but still hopes for more.
Most of the University’s security staff is employed by Public Safety, but the University also contracts guards from outside companies such as Summit Security and Allied Barton to staff residence halls located outside of University gates, like McBain, Broadway, and Harmony Hall.
A spokesperson for the University said the school does not comment on negotiations with outside companies.
“Our employees are getting everything they’re entitled to and we think it’s a very good thing,” said Linda Piacentini, a spokesperson for Summit Security, who added that negotiations between the University and the labor union 32BJ, which represents its guards, went well.
“Columbia’s administration and student body should be commended for their respective roles in bringing about a win-win agreement for the entire Columbia community,” Mike Fishman, president of 32BJ, said in a statement. “Professionalizing the industry means better pay for officers, better protection for New York City businesses, campuses, and stadiums, and a safer, more secure New York.”
A similar contract for the 30 Allied Barton security guards represented by 32BJ, which will secure better wages and benefits, will likely be signed on Wednesday. The security guards mostly work at Barnard dorms.
32BJ had been working on increasing benefits for employees since mid-2009, and reached out to student groups like Students for Environmental and Economic Justice and Lucha.
“They receive no benefits, and most workers receive between $11.20 and $12.50 per hour. By New York City standards this is below the poverty level for a family of four. ... Lucha calls on Columbia’s administration and the Board of Trustees to negotiate with these workers so they can receive dignified wages and adequate family health care,” Lucha said in a statement in February.
“When Columbia got wind that there’d been a meeting with students, they said, ‘Okay let’s talk,’” Viera said. He added that they had met with Avi Edelman, CC ’11 and vice president of Columbia University College Democrats, said he expects the Democrats will be taking a much more active role in labor issues on campus in the coming year.
“I do think we have this unique role in that we’re the students of the University, we’re the ones being served, and we have that much more of an impact when we put our voices together and stand with Columbia’s workers,” he said.
Michelle Rivera, who has been working at the Broadway residence hall for five years, said that with the pay raise, she and her family will be able to take a vacation to the Bahamas this July.
Even though the new benefits are an improvement, she said she is applying to become an officer with Public Safety, where guards earn over $18 hour and have a much more extensive health care package.
“They get paid much more to do the exact same thing,” she said.
Jean Carter, who started working for Summit 10 years ago at $7 per hour, said she will now be able to visit the doctor and dentist more regularly.
“I really needed the dental, but I was waiting because paying on my own to go to the dentist was really a hardship for me,” she said from her station in Harmony Hall.
Viera said that the old health care plan imposed an annual $800 cap on prescription medications, a cap he overran in the first five months of every year due to a health history of hypertension and allergies.
“But under this new plan, I don’t have to worry about it—I’m finally covered,” he said.
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