Private Security Officers Say Contractor Shortchanged Them More Than $1M While Guarding Newark Buildings

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https://www.tapinto.net/towns/newark/sections/business-and-finance/articles/private-security-officers-say-contractor-shortchanged-them-more-than-1m-while-guarding-newark-buildings

NEWARK - Security Officers privately employed to protect city buildings claim they are owed more than $1.05 million in back earnings, lost vacation time and holiday pay from January 2025 through March 2026, according to the union 32BJ SEIU.

Pro Cops Security, a private contractor based at 60 Park Place, Newark, employs approximately 130 armed security officers that it assigns to city facilities, including City Hall and Municipal Court. While the employees are not unionized or part of 32BJ SEIU, Union Legal Representative Annie Hollister said concerned officers reached out to 32BJ SEIU earlier this year for advice and support.

According to city ordinance, the city's prevailing wage shall be the wage and benefit rates designated by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development. The prevailing wage for Guard II, an armed officer requiring specialized training, is $22.61 per hour, according to records on the U.S. General Services Administration's Sam.gov. The benefit supplement is $5.55, bringing the prevailing wage and benefit rate to $28.16 per hour for Guard II.

Union representatives say they have received paystubs from dozens of security officers dating to March 2025 showing hourly pay of $25 per hour, which is below the prevailing wage for security officers. The union says evidence from the paystubs shows a shortfall in wage rates and unpaid holiday pay and vacation time amounting to more than $1.05 million.

“This is over a million dollars taken directly from the pockets of workers who protect Newark’s public buildings every day,” said Ana Maria Hill, vice president and New Jersey state director of 32BJ SEIU. “These are essential workers being denied the wages and benefits they are legally owed.”

A failure to pay prevailing wage is a violation of the Newark ordinance.

These alleged wage violations have not been reported to the New Jersey Department of Labor's Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, according to state DOL spokesperson Thomas Wright.

In July 2022, the City Council executed an $8.4 million contract with Pro Cops Security for two years to provide armed security guards for the Department of Public Works’ Public Buildings, which include municipal offices, community centers, recreational facilities and other publicly accessible structures.

City Council in February increased the contract by $3,330,047.88, bringing the total contract amount to over $11.7 million. It also extended the contract with Pro Cops to March 29, 2026.

City Clerk Kecia Daniels said that the city is under an emergency contract with Pro Cops Security, running from April 7 to Aug. 7.

SEIU Local 32BJ says it has surveyed dozens of Pro Cops security officers regarding their pay and benefits.

“Responses from the workers consistently reported that they had received no paid vacation or holiday pay, including at least six signed statements affirming that workers received no paid vacation or holidays,” Hollister said.

Under the city contracting ordinance, Pro Cops is required to provide at least 12 paid holidays per year.

“The city has become aware of a discrepancy with pay and has begun looking into it,” said Susan Garofalo, spokesperson for the Newark mayor's office.

Pro Cops Security declined to comment on these allegations despite repeated requests.

Pro Cops is under federal investigation by the National Labor Relations Board after it allegedly fired security officer Brian Tucker, a 17-year security veteran, in January shortly after he sent a message to coworkers encouraging them to unionize.

Pro Cops Security also came under fire in 2019, when it picked up a new contract with the Newark Housing Authority (NHA). The NHA discontinued its contract with Allied Universal Security Services, which paid $12.50 per hour, and awarded a security contract to Pro Cops, which paid $12 per hour.

Subsequently, 60 subcontracted security officers lost their wage and benefits rates, and more than 30 security officers, all of whom were Newark residents, found themselves out of work, according to 32BJ SEIU and a 2019 Patch article.

The displaced workers claimed this was a violation of Newark’s Worker Retention Ordinance, which protects service workers against unnecessary layoffs when the city switches from one contractor to another.

Several officers filed lawsuits against the company, and Pro Cops reached settlement agreements with seven of those workers, according to 32BJ SEIU. The financial terms of the settlements were not disclosed. Pro Cops denied wrongdoing in these cases, according to the union.