RAISING STANDARDS,
IMPROVING COMMUNITIES
NEW JERSEY’S SECURITY OFFICERS UNITING
FOR GOOD JOBS AND A BRIGHTER FUTURE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
November 2012
PRIVATE SECURITY OFFICERS IN NEW JERSEY are coming together to join a union, 32BJ SEIU, to
raise industry standards and to transform low-wage jobs into good jobs with decent pay and quality
benefits. This transformation will bring millions of dollars over the next decade to private security officers,
their families and their communities, thereby helping to stimulate local economies.
Private security officers in New Jersey protect the full gamut of vital infrastructure in the state: commercial
office buildings and corporate offices, public schools, courthouses, federal sites, colleges and universities,
airports, museums, and health care facilities. Their work is essential to those who live in, work in and visit
the state.
The private security industry is profitable and growing. Yet across New Jersey, pay and benefits in the
industry are paltry. Private security officers in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia have
successfully raised industry standards in their cities. The private security officers of New Jersey are
committed to accomplishing the same.
Average wages for private
security officers in New Jersey
are far below what it takes to
sustain a family in the state.
Raising pay would not only
bring full-time workers and
their families out of poverty, it
would have a multiplier effect
of millions of dollars that would
strengthen communities.
RAISING STANDARDS
PROBLEM: NEW JERSEY NEEDS GOOD JOBS
THE CURRENT SITUATION for working people
in New Jersey is not good. In August 2012, the state’s
unemployment rate hit 9.9 percent, the highest in
35 years, and it remains high at 9.8 percent.1 According
to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce
Development, there were 448,000 unemployed people
in the state in October 2012.2
The problem isn’t just jobs, but good jobs. Those who
are working in New Jersey are earning less today than
in the recent past. According to data from the U.S.
Census Bureau, median household income in New
Jersey decreased by 3.4 percent between 2010 and 2011.3
The result is greater poverty: almost 900,000 people
in the state now live below the federal poverty level.
Many contend that the annual income that the federal
government considers as the poverty level does not
accurately measure poverty. The Poverty Institute of
Legal Services of New Jersey has developed the Real
Costing of Living measure and by that standard, more
than 2 million people in New Jersey today can’t meet
their basic needs.4
The economic environment that New Jersey’s workers
face has been deteriorating for the last 10 years.
According to New Jersey Policy Perspective’s report, The
State of Working New Jersey 2011: The Lost Decade:
● Real wages were lower in 2010 for the bottom 30 percent
of wage earners in New Jersey than in 2000.
● Income declined for the bottom 60 percent of
households between 2000 and 2010.5
What little job growth there has been in recent years
has been concentrated in the service sector. Since June
2008, the largest employment gains in the state have been
concentrated in the private sector service industry.6 For
example, private sector service jobs are now the primary
employment option for Newark residents without a
college degree.7
PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY JOB
GROWTH, INADEQUATE STANDARDS
The private security industry is a major employer
nationwide and in New Jersey. The U.S. contract security
industry employs more than 1.5 million security officers
nationwide and is estimated to be a $20 billion industry.8
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics9
and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce
Development, there are 20,850 private security officers
in New Jersey, more than half in Northern New Jersey
(Hudson, Essex, Union and Bergen Counties).10
The private security industry is growing rapidly, both
nationally and locally. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
predicts that nationally the number of security jobs
will grow by 18 percent by 2020, creating over 200,000
new jobs.11 And according to data from the New Jersey
Department of Labor and Workforce Development,
the number of security jobs in the state will increase by
4.6 percent over the next 10 years.12
RAISING STANDARDS | 1
Security Officers in Northern New Jersey
Race
Gender
Age
Level of Education
Source for all charts on this page: U.S. Census Data Collected by Integrated Public Use Microdata Series
RAISING STANDARDS | 2
WHO ARE NEW JERSEY’S SECURITY
OFFICERS?
According to demographic data from the U.S. Census
and the American Community Survey, more than 70
percent of Northern New Jersey’s private security officers
are people of color. The area’s typical security officer is
an African American man between the ages of 20 and 29
with a high school diploma or GED.13
According to the Urban Institute, African American
families are historically “less likely to be working and
more likely to receive public assistance, and they earn
lower incomes on average and suffer from higher rates of
poverty.”14 By organizing to raise standards, New Jersey’s
security officers are seeking to reverse this historic trend.
NEW JERSEY’S PRIVATE SECURITY
INDUSTRY: LOW PAY, FEW BENEFITS
In a state that desperately needs good jobs, the rapidly
growing, and profitable, private security industry offers
jobs with low wages and few, if any, meaningful benefits.
Low pay in the industry is evident in data from the
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which gives
average wages for private security officers both statewide
and at the county level in New Jersey. (See chart below.)15
Additional data pulled from a random sampling of job
postings for security officers in New Jersey between
“I’ve been here for five years and I only
make $10.50 an hour. I need to pay
bills and put food on the table. That’s
why I’m organizing: I have two kids I
need to provide for.”
– Luz Feliciano, security officer,
500 Plaza Drive, Secaucus, N.J.
August and October 2012 shows that starting pay for
unarmed security officers can be as low as $8 an hour,
much less than the pay rates published in the Quarterly
Census of Employment and Wages. According to the
federal government’s poverty guidelines for 2012, the
poverty line for a family of three is $19,090.16 Earning $8
an hour would put many security officers who work fulltime and have families below this threshold.17
But in fact, the situation may be even more difficult than
the data suggests: Legal Services of New Jersey’s Poverty
Research Institute has concluded that the federal standard
is an inadequate measure of poverty for a number of
reasons. The figure does not vary by state, thereby failing
to account for the high cost of living in places like New
Jersey. The Poverty Research Institute has thus developed
a measure called the Real Cost of Living (RCL) based
upon the true expenses a family faces to meet its basic
New Jersey Security Officer Pay
AREA/EMPLOYER
HOURLY SALARY
WEEKLY SALARY
ANNUAL SALARY
Statewide
$11.74
$470
$24,441
Bergen County
$11.39
$456
$23,695
Essex County
$12.23
$489
$25,443
Union County
$10.24
$410
$21,296
Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Bureau of Labor Statistics
RAISING STANDARDS | 3
needs. New Jersey’s RCL in 2008, the last year it was
calculated, was about three times the federal poverty
level, or $54,930 for a family of three.18 Thus, the average
wages for security officers in New Jersey are far below
what it takes to sustain a family in New Jersey.
Low pay is not the only problem in the private security
industry: rather than receiving benefits from their
employers, many security officers rely on public programs,
such as Medicaid or New Jersey Family Care, for health
care. According to the New Jersey Department of Human
Services 2011 Annual Report on Access to Employer Based
Health Insurance, last year there were 2,629 employees
of security services companies and their spouses and
dependents on New Jersey Family Care or Medicaid. We
estimate that this costs the state approximately $23.9
million annually.19 The large number of security officers
earning so little that they qualify for public health care
takes a toll on the already broken state budget.
PUTTING PUBLIC SAFETY IN PRIVATE
SECURITY HANDS
Private security officers are filling in the security gaps
that drastic cuts to the police across New Jersey have
created. Since 2010, budget shortfalls have led cities
throughout the state to lay off many police officers and
to reduce significantly the size of local police forces. The
consequences have been significant. Trenton, Paterson
and Atlantic City all made deep cuts in their police
departments since the start of 2010.20 In November
2010, Newark reduced its police force by 167 officers, the
department’s largest reduction in force in 32 years.21
(See the snapshot at right for details.) In early 2011,
Camden reduced its police force by 168 police officers22
and it recently terminated the remaining police force
of 273 police officers and is relying instead on a new
countywide police force.23
It is essential that private security officers receive the pay,
benefits and training they need to meet the responsibilities
being put on them. But work conditions in the industry
today are such that turnover rates can be high in these low
wage positions and more training is needed. This poses a
threat to security officers and the public alike.
SNAPSHOT
Newark Private Security
Officers Play Major Role in
City’s Renaissance
Newark is still recovering from the major
scarring event in its history, the riots of
1967, to which some have attributed the
city’s decline and poverty. Today, Newark
is experiencing an economic and cultural
revitalization.
Newark is now home to major
corporations such as Prudential Financial
and PSEG; universities such as the
New Jersey Institute of Technology and
Rutgers; and cultural and sports venues
such as the Prudential Center, Bears
and Eagles Riverfront Stadium; major
transportation hubs such as Newark
Liberty International Airport and the Port
of Newark; and the city’s pride, the New
Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Private security officers in Newark play
an integral role in protecting the city. In
2004, for instance, the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security warned of an Al
Qaeda terrorist threat to five buildings in
the country, among them the Prudential
Building, and raised the terrorism threat
level for Northern New Jersey.24 Yet
private security officers in the city, like
Andre Lugo whose story is on page 6,
still struggle to make ends meet. Raising
standards in the industry is not just a
matter of decency for security officers,
it is vital to those who live in, work in or
visit Newark.
RAISING STANDARDS | 4
SOLUTION: RAISING INDUSTRY STANDARDS
SECURITY OFFICERS IN New Jersey are coming
together to raise pay, benefit and training standards in
the private security industry. The gains they make will
improve not only their lives, but also that of their families
and communities. Those security officers in the state who
already have won union recognition and a contract that
includes family health care benefits are markedly better
off now. “At the end of March, my wife was in the hospital
with pneumonia. The health insurance we have as part of
the agreement between my union and my employer was
phenomenal,” comments Joe Jensen, a security officer at
30 Hudson Street in Jersey City and a 32BJ member since
2010. “It covered her treatment at the hospital and the
medicine when she came home. It’s been very comforting
to know her health care has been so good. And the
insurance took the burden off my mind about paying for
medical treatment.”
When security officers successfully raise standards in
their industry, the results will greatly benefit not only
their families but also their communities. Small increases
in hourly wages would bring millions of dollars to New
Jersey communities. Some examples:
● A $1 per hour pay increase would add about $43.4
million in wages to security officers each year.
● A $2 per hour pay increase would add about $86.7
million in wages to security officers each year.
● A $3 per hour pay increase would add about $130.1
million in wages to security officers each year.
This additional income would likely flow right into
New Jersey communities. Working people tend to spend
STANDING UP FOR HEALTH CARE
Tonya Lesaine, security officer,
Harmon Cove, Secaucus, N.J.
I am a security officer for Harvard Security. I am my
family’s only wage earner, taking care of Julissa, my
two-year-old daughter.
I love my job because I get to work with people and I
get to help them. But things get hard sometimes when
you don’t have affordable health care and you don’t get
paid sick days. When I’m sick, I have to work anyway
because I cannot afford to take the day off.
Getting health care that is affordable would help a
lot. With my responsibilities and all the bills I have,
it would make a big difference. That is why my coworkers and I are working so hard to organize a union
so we can fight for better training, better pay and
better benefits.
RAISING STANDARDS | 5
“I have no health insurance and I
haven’t received a raise in over four
years. The workplace should be a
place of respect. Employers must
meet our call for fair treatment.”
– Andre Lugo, security officer,
80 Park Place, Newark, N.J.
MY STORY
Andre Lugo, security officer
I am a security officer for SOS Security. I make $12.25
an hour, after working in security for 10 years. I haven’t
received a raise in over four years.
I live in Newark with my mom and my brother. Every
time the phone rings, I answer in fear a debt collector is
at the other end of the line.
Payday doesn’t bring me relief because my pay is long
gone before they even cut the check. Where does the
money go? Bills, bills and more bills. There are basics
like rent and utilities, food, laundry, my car payment and
insurance, gas and tolls. Never mind my student loan.
And every month there are the unexpected expenses like
car maintenance. Often, something doesn’t get paid and
has to be pushed off until the next month.
This is what living paycheck to paycheck is like. How
do I stretch my pay? I skip meals, often enough now
that I am used to that empty stomach and light-headed
feeling. My mom skips her blood pressure medication,
too, to stretch out the medicine.
I have no health care benefits at all because the package
my company offers is too expensive. And when you’re
poor like we are, your options are very limited. Like
the time I went to a student hospital and had my tooth
pulled because a simple procedure that could have saved
my tooth would have cost $4,000. I couldn’t even begin
to dream of that. Later, another tooth cracked and I
got an infection that spread to my cheek. The pain was
unimaginable and I was in despair because I didn’t have
health care I could afford or a doctor I could trust.
It’s enough to drive a person crazy, but I keep faith
and stay strong. I fight now to help organize my coworkers so that together we can bring better training to
the industry, better pay and better benefits, especially
affordable health care. Many co-workers are in the same
boat I’m in. We are organizing to end these horrible
conditions so no one has to suffer the way I have.
We put our lives on the line every day for the safety
of the buildings where we work and their tenants. We
deserve to have our voices heard. We deserve better.
That’s why we are standing up for our families and
ourselves. Our future is at stake.
RAISING STANDARDS | 6
their earnings on rent or mortgage payments, groceries,
school supplies – all the stuff of everyday family life. The
multiplier effect of increased earnings – and spending –
would likely benefit local economies.
Economists at the U.S. Department of Commerce have
developed a series of formulas known as multipliers
that estimate what the overall increase in earnings and
jobs for workers and their communities would be if
some workers received better pay. The formulas indicate
that the multiplier effects of raising pay for New
Jersey’s security officers include stimulating economic
activity in the communities where the officers work
and reside:
● If New Jersey security officers earned an additional
$1 per hour, the multiplier effect would result in $102
million in increased economic activity in New Jersey.
● If New Jersey security officers earned an additional
$2 per hour, the multiplier effect would result in $204
million in increased economic activity in New Jersey.
● If New Jersey security officers earned an additional
$3 per hour, the multiplier effect would result in $306
million in increased economic activity in New Jersey.
This validates, to a great extent, the premise of the effort
to improve industry standards: Raising wages for security
officers across New Jersey will likely create an economic
ripple effect that would strengthen communities and
benefit all New Jersey residents.
The Effect of Pay Raises on Security Officers’ Families
$1/hr. pay
increase
$43.4 million in additional earnings
per year for NJ families
$2/hr. pay
increase
$86.7 million in additional earnings
per year for NJ families
$3/hr. pay
increase
$130.1 million in additional earnings
per year for NJ families
In millions
The Multiplier Effect of Security Industry Pay Raises
$1/hr. pay
increase
$102 million in increased economic
activity in NJ communities
$2/hr. pay
increase
$204 million in increased economic
activity in NJ communities
$3/hr. pay
increase
$306 million in increased economic
activity in NJ communities
In millions
RAISING STANDARDS | 7
“Some of the things that I have
seen and experienced in 10 years
as a security officer are so horrible
that I often think of just giving up.
Then I look at my responsibilities
to my family, and I know that I
have to keep fighting for changes
to make the security industry a
better profession. This is our fight,
the fight of our lives.”
– Charles Apiyo, security officer,
80 Park Place, Newark, N.J.
SNAPSHOT
Security Officers in Jersey City Win Legislative Campaign
to Raise Standards for Building Service Workers
More than 17 percent of Jersey City’s residents live below the federal
poverty line.25 Yet the city has offered millions of dollars in subsidies
to corporations in its attempts to lure them into office towers along
the city’s “Gold Coast” waterfront.26 Those entities that receive public
subsidies have a particular responsibility to provide workers with decent
pay and benefits. Public money should not be used to support jobs that
require workers to depend upon public benefits like Medicaid.
Security officers recently helped to pass the Standard Wage Bill in Jersey
City, which raises standards for security officers and other building
service workers at buildings where the city leases space or at projects
that received $1 million or more in city subsidies to spur development.
RAISING STANDARDS | 8
GOOD JOBS, STRONGER COMMUNITIES
PRIVATE SECURITY OFFICERS IN NEW JERSEY are coming together to raise standards in their
industry because they must. Right now, although most work full-time, inadequate pay keeps security officers
and their families struggling to get by. Many live in poverty and must rely on Medicaid or New Jersey
Family Care.
This does not have to be the case. The private security industry is profitable and growing. A private
security workforce that is treated with respect, paid a fair wage, provided health care, and well trained is
in everyone’s interests: security officers and their families, but also their communities and the people who
work in, live in or visit the state. Security officers provide an essential service, particularly at a time when
police forces are being slashed. Raising standards in the private security industry in New Jersey will create
jobs that can sustain families and strengthen communities, thereby helping to reverse the trends that have
hurt so many of the state’s working people.
Security officers in New Jersey are forming a union with 32BJ SEIU to raise standards in their industry and
make life better for their families and communities.
RAISING STANDARDS | 9
ENDNOTES
1. “New Jersey Jobless Rate Increases to 35-Year High of
9.8%,” Bloomberg News, August 16, 2012
15. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Bureau of
Labor Statistics
2. “Unemployment Rate Moves Lower, Private Sector
Employment Moves Upward,“ Department of Labor and
Workforce Development Press Release, October 18 2012
16. 2012 HHS Poverty Guidelines.
3. Household Income for States: 2010 and 2011, U.S.
Census Bureau
4. “Poverty Benchmarks 2012: Assessing New Jersey’s
Progress in Combating Poverty,” An Annual Report from
the Legal Services of New Jersey Poverty Research Institute
5. The State of Working New Jersey 2011: the Lost Decade,
New Jersey Policy Perspective, November 2011
6. The State of Working New Jersey 2011: the Lost Decade,
New Jersey Policy Perspective, November 2011, pages 3-4
7. “The Growth of Low Skill Service Jobs and the
Polarization of the U.S. Labor Market,” David H. Autor and
David Dorn
8. White Paper On The U.S. Contract Security Industry,
Robert Perry and Associates, July 2012
9. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages
10. Occupation Profile – Security Guards in Hudson
County, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce
Development
11. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Occupational Outlook
Handbook,” Published March 29, 2012, Retrieved
September 14, 2012 from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/
Protective-Service/Security-guards.htm
12. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce
Development, Estimated and Projected Employment
by Detailed Occupation: 2008-2018 and Estimated and
Projected Employment by Detailed Industry: 2008-2018
13. U.S. Census Data Collected by Integrated Public Use
Microdata Series
14. “Racial Disparities and the New Federalism,” The Urban
Institute, October 2007
17. Job Posting for “Security Officers” or “Security Guards”
in North Jersey on craigslist.org., September-October 2012
18. “Poverty Benchmarks 2012: Assessing New Jersey’s
Progress in Combating Poverty,” An Annual Report from
the Legal Services of New Jersey Poverty Research Institute
19. Annual Report on Access to Employer Based Health
Insurance, 2011, New Jersey Department of Human Services
20. “In NJ, Police Layoffs Lead To Drop In Arrests,”
Associated Press, November 20, 2011
21. “Newark finalizes 167 police layoffs after union refuses
Booker’s plea to return to negotiating table,” The Star
Ledger, November 30, 2010.
22. “After heavy police layoffs in 2010, arrests plunged in
Newark and Camden in 2011,” by James Queally, The StarLedger, May 1, 2012
23. “To Fight Crime, a Poor City Will Trade In Its Police,”
by Kate Zernike, New York Times, September 28, 2012
24. “U.S. Warns of Terror Threat Against Financial Buildings,”
by Christine Hauser, New York Times, August 1, 2004; “A
Surprise at Prudential: It’s a Terror Target,” By Jason George
and Damien Cave, New York Times, August 3, 2004
25. “Poverty Benchmarks 2012: Assessing New Jersey’s
Progress in Combating Poverty,” An Annual Report from
the Legal Services of New Jersey Poverty Research Institute
26. “Goldman Sachs Gets Deal For 2nd Jersey City
Tower,” By Charles V. Bagli, New York Times, July 19,
2007; “Jersey City Council woos Goya Foods with tax
abatement measure,” by Terrence T. McDonald, The Jersey
Journal, October 27, 2011; “Wall Street firm to move 1,600
jobs to Jersey City,” by Lisa Fleisher, The Star-Ledger,
October 14, 2009
RAISING STANDARDS
With more than 120,000 members, 32BJ SEIU is the
largest union of property service workers in the
U.S. We are united to raise standards at work and
improve conditions in our communities so that one
day “working poor” will be a contradiction in terms.
For more information about us: www.seiu32bj.org.
32BJ SEIU
1 Washington Park
Suite #1203
Newark, NJ 07102
RAISING STANDARDS | 12