Security officers protest for better wages, benefits

Two dozen security officers protested outside the Costa Mesa headquarters of Pacwest Security Thursday morning, picketing and chanting slogans for higher wages and health-care benefits.

According to Terence Long, a spokesman for the Service Employees International Union, the officers made their protest public because Pacwest had refused to join other security companies in negotiating with the union.

Officials for Pacwest, 3303 Harbor Blvd., did not return calls seeking comment.

The guards, despite their picketing, have not gone on strike and are attempting to negotiate with Pacwest, according to Long.

“Security officers who work for Pacwest are still going to be living in poverty, still living on wages they can’t live off of,” he said. “The irony is they protect multimillion-dollar buildings and get paid poverty wages in return.”

— Michael Miller