op ed

Sunday, April 6, 2008


"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." Martin Luther King Jr.

On April 4th our nation will observe the 40 year anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Rev. Dr. King was murdered during a trip to Memphis, TN while fighting alongside trash collectors who were trying to raise their working conditions, wages and benefits on their jobs through unionization. All of the trash collectors were black. 40 years later, it is surprising, and sad, to see that economic and systemic barriers have created a new group of black workers who must struggle against the odds to win their rights and a voice on the job.

In 1968, black workers in Memphis faced the systemic discrimination of an employer who refused to acknowledge their desire to be a union. In Philadelphia in 2008, AlliedBarton, the largest employer of African-American workers in Philadelphia, uses similar systemic barriers of economic disenfranchisement and strong arm tactics to disenfranchise its workers.

Private security has been a booming industry since the attacks of 9/11. Thousands of workers in Philadelphia are private security guards; 97% of them are black. AlliedBarton is making money on the backs of its workers while not paying them a livable wage.

The Philadelphia Officers and Workers Rising (POWR) campaign is a project of Jobs with Justice. (put in a line about Jobs with Justice) The attainable goal POWR seeks is to ensure the private security guards in Philadelphia an equitable, livable wage and representation by the Philadelphia Security Officers Union (PSOU).

POWR’s demand is that Allied Barton voluntarily recognize the workers union, and that the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kimmel Center and Temple University, demand that voluntary recognition from AlliedBarton as well.

POWR has successfully brought together workers, people of faith and college students and has already won paid sick leave for some security guards and 100% wage increase for others at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. These benefits will equal more than $2 million dollars in new wages that will flow right back into the city thru commerce and taxes paid by these workers. POWR’s call to action on behalf of the security guards is “I AM A HuMan”- to help put a face on this otherwise faceless campaign.

Local clergy, security guards and activists remind the community that, as with the POWR campaign, 40 years ago, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing up with and for black trash workers in Memphis.

Demonstrate your support for the black security workers who are fighting for a voice on the job, better wages and benefits. We will march to the Perelman Auditorium at the Kimmel Center, on Sunday, April 6, 3-5 pm (beginning at Arch St. Methodist, 55 N. Broad St., to Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St.) and during that weekend will also mobilize thousands of prayers. Please join us. For more information, please call Fabricio Rodriguez 215-670-5855 (day) or email fabricio@phillyjwj.org