Security guards at 13 of D.C.’s public schools received 15 percent pay raises after signing a three-year contract with the local service employees union.
The 180 guards employed by Securitas, a D.C. public schools security contractor, will enjoy increased wages and benefits from about $16.08 to $18.34 an hour. The contract also provides up to four weeks paid vacation, up to seven personal days for full-time guards, and employer-paid pension benefits.
Wallene Butler, a security officer at McKinley Tech High School, said the raise “will help me make a better life for my children.”
“We work hard to keep kids safe, and now we get the respect we deserve,” Butler said.
Jaime Contreras, the local director for Service Employees International Union 32BJ, said the union lobbied for a 20 percent raise, but the negotiated sum “brought everyone to agreement on what workers need.”
“We’re in the business of raising worker standards and making sure people have livable wages and pensions,” Contreras said.
The union represents 1,500 private security officers who work in District offices and schools. Securitas officers in municipal buildings have negotiated through the union since 2008, but this is the first school-side contract.
Security guards follow on the heels of D.C. teachers, who received historic bonuses under the new contract signed in June between the Washington Teachers’ Union and then-Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
The District’s 4,400 teachers received an average of $10,227 in back pay totaling $45 million from their new union contract, with potential six-digit salaries for top educators on a new scale.
The average teacher’s salary under the new contract is $74,400, higher than all surrounding counties but Montgomery, where teachers are paid an average $76,500. But D.C. teachers can earn up to $130,000 under the new contract, while Montgomery teachers with master’s degrees and 25 years of experience max out at $103,634.
