Security firm drops objection to museum guards' unionizing

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20100428_Security_firm_drops_objection_to_museum_guards__unionizing.html

Posted on Wed, Apr. 28, 2010

By Stephan Salisbury

Inquirer Culture Writer
The security firm that employs about 130 security officers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art said Tuesday that it had dropped its bid to block the guards' effort to unionize.

AlliedBarton, of Conshohocken, which supplies security services around the country and to many large facilities and institutions in the Philadelphia area, had filed a number of objections to a union election conducted in October.

On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board in Washington upheld earlier findings against AlliedBarton and certified the Philadelphia Security Officers Union as the official bargaining representative for the museum's guards.

"While we are disappointed with this result, we respect the board's decision, and we are prepared to begin the bargaining process with the union," Jim Gorman, AlliedBarton vice president and general manager, said in an e-mail statement Tuesday.

"We have already been in contact with the union to request a meeting to begin this process. We are confident that we can negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that supports the needs of our officers, the museum, and its patrons."

Fabricio Rodriguez, lead coordinator for the union, said that AlliedBarton had essentially "run out of NLRB options" and that the union was seeking to schedule dates to meet with company representatives to discuss a contract.

FULL story at link.