Delaware River Corporation Slashes Hours In Retribution
Security guards that protect joggers and festival goers at the Delaware River front complex filed the paper work to become members of the Philadelphia Security Officers Union on Monday, August 23rd. The next day, Delaware River Waterfront Corporation Security Manager began questioning employees about the union and announced that everyone’s hours would be cut.
The new hours were posted showing every guard only getting 32 hours per week instead of their usual 40, and they all had shift changes.
“We filed for a union election and hoped to celebrate with the thousands of union members who will be at Penn’s Landing next Monday,” says James Walsch, a security guard at the complex for 15 months.
“Instead, our employer is violating our rights and cutting the hours of union supporters.” further states Walsch.
Though it is not uncommon for employers to take revenge on their employees when they start the process toward unionization, it is illegal according to the rules set by the National Labor Relation Act.
“We were surprised that our boss, Tom Corcoran, would come down so hard on us for wanting to join a union,” Says Luis Parilla a security guard who has worked for four years at the site.
Tom Corcoran was appointed as the CEO of the Delaware River Waterfront Authority by Mayor Nutter last year after the Penn’s Landing Corporation when it was caught up in the Vince Fumo corruption scandal.
“They work well with the Carpenters and the staging crew who are represented by IATSE Local 8, why is it any different for us?” states security guard Larry Waxmunski.
The guards feel like they are inadequately protected in the case of injury since they don’t have any health insurance. The guards say that they are not adequately trained on how to respond to emergencies such as the recent Duck Boat incident. Guards regularly have to deal with situations with drunk people and the homeless.
The guards also point to the lack of proper equipment that puts them and the public at risk, things that they say they will fight to improve when after they win their union election in October. The guards also want to improve wages from their current level of $14,000 per year for a full-time worker with no paid sick-leave, healthcare or benefits.
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