ST. LOUIS 鈥 51黑料 aldermen have taken two steps to aid a union trying to organize contracted security guards at 51黑料 Lambert International Airport.
The Board of Aldermen on Feb. 4 approved a resolution urging GardaWorld Security Services to agree to voluntarily recognize the Service Employees International Union Local 1 as its Lambert guards鈥 collective bargaining representative.
鈥淭his legislative body has a duty to support, protect and defend members of our community fighting against corporate greed,鈥 the resolution says.
That followed the board鈥檚 passage last month of a union-backed ordinance barring city contractors from paying employees during training periods less than the amount set by the city鈥檚 鈥渓iving wage鈥 law.
The union had complained that GardaWorld had 鈥渟kirted鈥 the living wage law by doing that.
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The bill鈥檚 sponsor, Alderman Bret Narayan of the Dogtown area, said at a hearing in December that the measure 鈥渉opefully closes the loophole.鈥
Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said in an interview that Lambert had interpreted city ordinances to allow a lower wage for trainees. 鈥淲e had allowed vendors to use it,鈥 she said. She said that will now change under the recently passed bill, which Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has signed into law.
GardaWorld said in a statement that it 鈥渃omplies with all applicable labor laws and regulations鈥 and is concerned that 鈥渇alse narratives and misinformation at this location continue to circulate.鈥
More than 100 guards at Lambert work for GardaWorld. The company鈥檚 current $36 million contract began in 2020 and, after two extensions, is set to expire at the end of April.
GardaWorld is among six companies seeking the next three-year contract. A city selection panel could submit its recommendation to the city Airport Commission at its next meeting March 5.
Hamm-Niebruegge said Lambert has required security firms to abide by both the living wage law, which is tied to federal poverty guidelines, and a separate ordinance requiring service contractors to pay a prevailing wage set by the U.S. Department of Labor.
She said the prevailing wage typically is higher than the living wage and that is what GardaWorld has been required by the airport to pay, except for trainees.
She said the company chosen for the next security contract also would be paying the prevailing wage, not the living wage. She said, however, that Lambert wouldn鈥檛 allow lower trainee pay because the aldermanic board鈥檚 鈥渋ntent is certainly it applies to both鈥 the prevailing and living wage situations.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of Feb. 9, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
