Maguire Agrees to Guards-Only Union
Other Major Los Angeles Office Building Owners Expected
to Follow
California Real Estate Journal - April 17, 2006
By Keeley Webster

Union leaders said an agreement struck with one of Los Angeles' largest property owners represents a big step forward in their ability to organize the security guards who protect Los Angeles' office buildings.

Robert F. Maguire III, chairman and chief executive officer of Maguire Properties Inc., agreed to support the Service Employees International Union Local 1877's efforts to unionize security guards - with the caveat that the union will create a new security officer-only local in Los Angeles.

The agreement was announced at an April 11 press conference held at City Hall by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had brought the two sides together the night before to hammer out an agreement.

"You can see by all the hugs and congratulations here that we are announcing a historic agreement," Villaraigosa said. "I'm proud to announce that common ground has been reached between Rob Maguire and the SEIU."

Maguire had been a staunch opponent of the security guards organizing with the SEIU because that union represents the city's janitors. He contended that having both sets of workers represented by the same union would represent a security problem in the event of a strike.

"We are very pleased with the agreement we have reached," Maguire said. "We agreed to establish a guards-only union in Los Angeles. The mayor played a role in several crucial issues."

The SEIU and Maguire have also agreed to jointly subsidize a new training program with each contributing $125,000 a year for two years.

Villaraigosa said that Maguire's support of the janitors when they staged a strike four years ago was instrumental in an agreement being reached, because the other large commercial office owners followed his lead.

"Now he is standing behind the security officers, who make Los Angeles safer for everyone," Villaraigosa said.

Maguire said the guards who work in his buildings make $10 an hour and receive full health benefits and as a result he has very little turnover. Most Los Angeles security officers earn on average $8.44 an hour and are offered health benefits they can't afford, according to the union.

"We have always supported the concept of people earning living wages and benefits," Maguire said. "We don't think that is a matter for debate."

The union has been trying to organize the guards who work in Los Angeles office buildings since April 17, 2002.

The union has been able to organize security guards in other cities where national firms like Trizec Properties and Equity Office Properties Trust own office buildings. Jono Shaffer, the union's security campaign director, attributes the difficulties in organizing in Los Angeles to the fact that most of the office buildings in Southern California are owned by locally based firms such as Maguire Properties, Arden Realty Group and Douglas Emmett.

"Early on a set of misconceptions became accepted as truths by local owners," Shaffer said. "The large owners like Equity were pleased as punch to let the locals take the lead. As long as Rob was out there with that position, it created a huge shadow that people could stay behind."

Having Maguire agree that the security guards should be unionized doesn't mean a union contract has been signed for the workers, however. Maguire and the owners of the other office buildings in Los Angeles subcontract with security firms.

"Hopefully, this will encourage the rest of the city's commercial real estate owners to take similar initiative," said Rev. Lewis E. Logan II, a member of a coalition of the city's religious leaders who have been lobbying on the issue. "There is still a great task that needs to be done."

The union will now be working on two tracts to convince the security firms to agree to a union contract and to convince the other large office owners to support a union.

The office building owners influence whether the security firms are willing to allow their workers to unionize, Shaffer said.

Shaffer explained that the security companies sign a five-year contract, but the contract stipulates that the owner only has to give the security firm 30-days notice before canceling the contract. The contractors tell SEIU if they recognize a union they will lose that job, Shaffer said.

Villaraigosa thinks convincing Maguire to agree to the security guards union will have a domino effect on the rest of the industry.

"Let's be clear on the reason for all the smiley faces in this room," Villaraigosa said. "We saw the impact of getting Maguire to agree to the janitors' contract four years ago. When he agreed, everyone else followed suit."

Maguire owns seven of the largest office buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including the U.S. Bank Tower.

Thomas Properties Group, another Los Angeles office owner, has recently taken the stance that they are neutral on the issue of security guards unionizing, which Shaffer saw as another major step forward.