Campus security guards petitioned Friday at Georgetown University, joining with campus groups and a major union in an effort to raise wages and benefits for the guards.
The new demand for increased wages comes after Georgetown's decision last March to raise all contracted workers' salaries and benefits to at least $13 an hour by July from the former minimum compensation of $11.33, according to an article on thehoya.com.
This "Just Employment Policy," which was implemented following a nine-day student hunger strike that attracted national attention last spring, also committed to raise contracted workers' compensation to at least $14 an hour by July 2007.
Nora Gaines, a Service Employees International Union official, argued that the D.C. area is a very expensive place to live and that the guards should receive better wages.
"They received a seven-cent raise. ... That's not a living wage," she said.
