While Saturday’s antiwar march at the Pentagon brought thousands to D.C., Georgetown Solidarity Committee’s rally at Red Square to support the Department of Public Safety in their contract renegotiation on Tuesday drew only 20.
The contract between DPS and the University expired in January and has not yet been renewed for several reasons. In particular, DPS is calling for higher salaries and bullet-proof vests.
According to GSC member Kristina Mitchell (COL ’10), DPS officers are requesting a $5 per hour wage increase, but the University is only offering a 45 cent per hour increase.
“The administration has acknowledged that wages are inadequate but has made clear to DPS officers and students that security is not a priority,” said Alex Vizzi (COL ’09) during his speech at the rally.
“The wages are completely inadequate and completely below what DPS officers deserve for protecting our campus.”
A chart prepared by the DPS labor union, Allied, lists Georgetown’s starting pay as $11.20-$13.42, compared to $15.18 at George Washington University and $15.00-$17.00 at American University.
“I considered going to another University which paid more when I was younger, but Georgetown has good benefits,” said a DPS officer who has worked at Georgetown for 21 years and who wished to remain anonymous because the negotiations are in progress.
Georgetown provides its DPS officers with medical and dental benefits, in addition to partial tuition assistance for the DPS officers’ college-bound children. He said that Georgetown paid for both of his children to attend the University of Maryland. He also said that he and other DPS officers appreciate the GSC’s efforts.
Most students walking through Red Square, however, were unaware of the contract negotiations, but some expressed sympathy for the officers’ cause.
“I don’t know very much about the issue. I’ve never actually heard about it before, but for DPS officers to be able to really serve us, we need to serve them,” said Karima Moorehead (COL ’07), who paused to see what the commotion was about.
Not all students share GSC’s point of view, though.
Zack Bluestone (MSB ’09), a member of the GUSA Senate, believes that the demands are unreasonable and that the University will continue to stand by its position.
“Georgetown University should not and will not acquiesce to the DPS demands,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Bluestone called the request for bulletproof vests “humorous.”
The DPS contract was last renewed in 2004 and the officers have been working under an extension of that contract since January, according to University spokesperson Julie Green Bataille.
Bataille said that some bullet proof vests are available for officers to use upon request, but that there has been very limited use of them.
“Georgetown has a record of successful and cooperative labor relations and has negotiated many contracts with this union in particular over the years. We see no reason to anticipate that will change,” Bataille wrote in an e-mail.
During the rally, a small group of DPS officers looked on from the corner of Red Square. When asked about the event and the ongoing negotiations, one, who chose not to give his name, replied “while we’re in uniform, we can’t talk. That’s just the way it is right now.” The other officers declined to comment.
