Jersey City, NJ – Jersey City Councilman and mayoral candidate Steven Fulop joined hundreds of private security officers today at a rally to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy by urging security company Harvard Protection Services to stop intimidating officers who want to organize. The company faces a round of federal charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board, charging it has tried to intimidate security officers who have engaged in lawful union activities.

“The need for workers to have security and dignity on the job was important to Dr. King 50 years ago, and it is important in Jersey City today,” Fulop said. “Plain and simply said, not today, not tomorrow, not next year, Jersey City won’t allow coercion at the workplace. Nearly half a century after his assassination, we in Jersey City, a place where Dr. King had a presence, must remind security contractors like Harvard Protection that they need to do the right thing and stop interfering with workers’ right to organize.”

Councilman Rolando Lavarro and Councilwoman Diane Coleman also joined Fulop and hundreds of security officers in downtown Jersey City to demand an end to intimidation at Harvard sites.

“The work done by the men and women employed in Jersey City’s security industry can be dangerous, and is usually not well paid. They deserve to be treated with respect and to be able organize without coercion,” said Kevin Brown, 32BJ SEIU New Jersey Director.

32BJ filed charges with the NLRB against Harvard Protection for intimidating workers who chose to wear merchandise with union logos or discuss union matters with their coworkers.

Security officers employed by Harvard protect prominent buildings in Jersey City including 90 Hudson, 15 Exchange Place.

32BJ is the largest property service union in the country, with more than 120,000 members in eight states and Washington D.C., including 9,000 members in New Jersey. 

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