Hospital Security Officers Urge Fellow New England Workers to Organize
These workers are the first security officers in Rhode Island to join 32BJ SEIU.
Lily Bohlke – Commonwealth News Service
A group of hospital security officers in Rhode Island have negotiated their first contract, and they have recommendations for workers across the Northeast who may also be interested in forming a union.
Some 34 security officers, parking lot attendants and security associates at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence joined 32BJ Service Employees International Union. Its Security Division represents more than 3,000 employees in Massachusetts as well.
Scott Molloy, a security officer at the hospital and a member of the union bargaining committee, said the department had gone a long time without a pay raise to match the inflation rate, and this contract includes at least an 8% raise for each member.
“It’s a comfort that this department’s never really had,” he said. “We now know that we have support when we need it. If something goes wrong, or if there’s something that we come across in one of our shifts, we know that the union is going to be there to back us, when we need the protection and we know we’re in the right.”
The contract also includes pay differentials for second, third and weekend shifts, and additional pay for officers who have completed their car-seat certification.
Molloy said he hopes more hospital security officers in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and across the Northeast will consider union membership. When individual employees try to improve working conditions, he said, it can sometimes backfire and put their own job security at risk.
“There’s strength in numbers,” he said. “So, if there’s ever a group or department or anything that feels like they need some more support to keep a fair balance with their company, then unionizing is definitely the way to go.”
However, not everyone agrees. In the last few decades, union membership nationwide has declined across the board. In 2021, slightly more than 10% of U.S. workers were union members, compared with about 20% 40 years ago. The industries with the highest unionization rates are education, training and library occupations, but protective service employees are close behind.