TESTIMONY
Christopher Leon Johnson on the Advocacy for Better Protection and Pay for Security Guards at Construction Sites
2:52:46
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4 min
Christopher Leon Johnson criticizes the lack of representation and advocacy for security guards at construction sites, emphasizing their need for better protection and appropriate compensation.
- Johnson highlights the absence of union leaders advocating for security guards' rights during city council meetings.
- He argues that security guards deserve the same level of protection and respect as construction workers.
- Johnson calls for security guards to receive comparable pay to union members like carpenters and sheet metal workers.
- He advocates for stricter compliance with fire department regulations to ensure the safety of security guards.
- Johnson urges unions and security companies to be held accountable for the wellbeing and fair compensation of their security workers.
Christopher Leon Johnson
2:52:46
My name is Christopher Leon Johnson on the record.
2:52:49
I used to be a member of Third 2 BJ's a shop store for the MTA.
2:52:54
East side access project from 2020, 2017 to 2021.
2:52:59
Alright.
2:52:59
So I would say this right now.
2:53:01
Where is there to BJ on this?
2:53:03
Like, I don't see not one representative there to be Jay advocating for for intro 88 in the city council.
2:53:12
Now where is Janet where is Dennis Johnston of 3rd week j?
2:53:15
Where is is he Melendez at 3rd week j?
2:53:17
Where are those 2 at?
2:53:18
I don't see him at all.
2:53:19
They didn't even testify.
2:53:21
That is not right.
2:53:23
As a as Union leaders, so called leaders of the security division, they should have been here at advocating for protection of their workers.
2:53:32
Not only the the the those 2, many pastor acts of entrepreneurship, but out here too, advocate for the safety of their workers because as much as these members of the sheet metal workers and the carpenters and the other late other families you just spoke prior to me and myself.
2:53:49
The security guards work at those places too.
2:53:52
They deserve the safe protections as the construction workers.
2:53:56
We understand that the construction workers, they have a lot of political power more than the security workers are there's BJ, but at the end of the day, we're all human beings.
2:54:04
Security guards are all human beings.
2:54:06
They deserve the same protections ads to the construction workers.
2:54:09
They deserve the same respect as to construction workers.
2:54:11
Now going to that, they deserve security guards that need the same pay not to say the same pay, but they need the same pay level as the the the the Union Carpenters.
2:54:23
In the union members like sheet metal workers, they get paid 60, 80, a $100, and some guy get paid $23 an hour, and that's great.
2:54:31
They deserve that amount of money to put bustinate butts.
2:54:34
But wire security guards, their workers construction sites getting paid 16,000 hours, 17 hours, now 18 hours an hour, with majority of them non union, even the union guards that work on those, like, a tree like garbage by by the by the by the companies that are hired to do the security supplying.
2:54:53
Now I'll say that right now about intro 88, about with the the smoke tamper with the smoke of the machine.
2:55:00
I used to have I used to have one of those car.
2:55:02
I think it was the s 80, the s 6 s 89.
2:55:06
So like that, I've got the the exact nobody's to have that.
2:55:08
But I will say this right now, you have to put that law with the fire department to use it for every year instead of every what is it?
2:55:20
Every every 3 years.
2:55:22
3 years.
2:55:23
Instead of every 3 years, you need to adjust it to make it for every 1 year because the problem is there's certain sites with security guards, and I'm not told a bunch of construction workers.
2:55:32
I'm not construction worker that they get the car, they just get it, just to get the job, and they don't know anything about smoke machines or smoke detectors, anything like that.
2:55:41
And if something happens, it it all falls on the the propping metric company.
2:55:46
It never falls on security guards.
2:55:47
Now what need to start happening, Missus Pope Sanchez, with the help of the labor committee, Missus Cominedental Rosa, because she oversees the unions, you need to to find a way to get the dirt to be the unions and certain security companies out here and question about, like, what are they doing with the the protection of overseeing security guards and staying compliant with the fire department.
2:56:08
Fire department compliance and security guards.
2:56:11
And and I'll say this again.
2:56:12
I'll say this one more time.
2:56:15
These companies have to be held responsible.
2:56:17
These security companies Need to be held responsible just as the, say, construction workers, they mess up.
2:56:24
The company can be held responsible.
2:56:25
Even hell, even get arrested.
2:56:28
Just like this guard guard arrested in Westchester for the death of the of their workers.
2:56:32
Now security companies need to have that same responsibility just as the construction companies.
2:56:39
And our state is right now, we've come to fire fire control, the security companies, the unions, like dirt to BJ, need to be held liable too because they're the main ones that advocate you guys on how the the game go with security companies and security agencies.
2:56:54
So the company like, dirtier's b j need to be held responsible.
2:56:57
Dirtier's b j need to start advocating for a proper pay for security guards on construction sites.
2:57:04
Thank you.
2:57:05
Thank you.