Contract security officers who patrol Baltimore City facilities have authorized a strike, if necessary, against their employer, Abacus Corporation, protesting their health insurance plans and unsafe working conditions.
Security officer Laura Dixon, 59, has patrolled the Ashburton Water Filtration Plant for 25 years, but she noticed a change when Abacus took over the city security contracting about a decade ago.
Dixon walks with a cane because of a knee problem. She hasn’t been able to get treatment for a few years because she can’t afford her company’s health insurance, and isn’t covered by any plan. Aside from paying out of pocket for cleaning supplies, which her employer didn’t provide, Dixon has also been held at gunpoint while manning her security post.
“They don’t care about us,” Dixon said.
The company has received more than $45 million from the city since 2017 and employs about 150 security officers, according to a release from SEIU 32BJ, a local union for service workers working with the non-union officers.
If Abacus does not agree to meet with employees to negotiate or give them some other sign that progress is being made within the next week, SEIU 32BJ executive vice president Jaime Contreras said a strike would be “imminent.” A majority of the security officers voted to strike “if necessary” at meetings on July 5 and 12, according to a union spokesperson.
Employees are calling on the city to find a new contractor or for Abacus to fix long-standing issues. Some employees are also looking to unionize under SEIU 32BJ to secure these benefits.
One major complaint is that the company-offered health insurance is too expensive for the average employee. The union said it has not found one officer who can afford the plan. Many officers are on Medicaid, but with federal cuts to the program, Contreras is concerned about them losing their insurance.
Abacus said in a statement that the company “offers affordable health insurance, as defined by the ACA, Dental, Vision, and Short-Term Disability insurance.”
An analysis of the health insurance program by SEIU 32BJ found that workers would pay twice as much to visit a hospital and 20% more for preventative care than they would under a union plan. The policy, which the union called “junk insurance,” would require a $150 co-pay for a maximum of one urgent care visit.
“It’s not health insurance, that’s trash,” Contreras said.
Laverna Stackhouse, 58, has patrolled a city building on Holliday Street for about seven years. She went to the hospital in May for high blood pressure, and she’s still paying off $2,000 in medical bills because she can’t afford health insurance.
She has started taking her pills every other day, instead of every day as directed because Stackhouse doesn’t know when she’ll be able to see a doctor to get a refill or how she will afford a visit.
The strike authorization, Stackhouse said, will hopefully show the company that they’re serious about needing better health insurance. Other employees the union reached out to haven’t been able to take medicine to treat diabetes and other conditions.
Workers got a raise in July from just over $15 an hour to $18.50, Contreras and officers said, but added that it was long overdue and was only done as a result of workers speaking out.
Employees and union officials have reached out to Abacus to attempt to negotiate a new contract, but haven’t heard back.
“This company is just not a responsible contractor and they don’t want to deal with the union,” Contreras said.
Abacus pushed back in the statement: “We have always advocated for and highly prioritized employee welfare and have done so in a direct relationship with our employees and intend to continue to do so.”
Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com.
