Looking for new writers and graphic designers!
Come to our meetings every Sunday night at 9:00pm 5th floor of Lerner (near the student
government office).
All are welcome.
Buy a T-Shirt
Do you love animals? Or sodomy? Then buy a Fed T-shirt!
About Us
We have a long and storied history. Learn more about us...
Posted:
In This Issue
- Editorial Staff, Cartoonist Apologize for Comic
- Spec Buggers Queer Coverage
- Contraceptive Addiction: The Next Big Thing
- Letters to the Feditrix
- BOSS Leader on Racism
- Fed Editor on Racism
- Howard Dean Broke my Heart
- More on Columbia Security Department
- Lasers Make Atlanta Almost Cool
- Barnard Student Government Shows Resolution
- Jesus: Zombie Demigod Beloved By All
- Fundamentally Funny Bible Games
- Fed Fun Guide to Columbia Campus
More on Columbia Security Department
Frankly, This Security Shit is Still Broken
Ethan Heitner
Greg Higgs is a former Columbia security guard from the Health Sciences campus. He was fired in December of 2002 for leaving his post to aide a man who was apparently having a heart attack and for "insubordination"-ignoring an order not to assist the man to his feet. Higgs claimed in my original interview with him ("Plantation Mentality", Fed 19.2) that his superiors were waiting for a chance to fire him because he constantly complained about the discrimination and harassment that were part of regular life in the Department. He says his superiors were especially incensed because he dared to utilize his contractual benefits to take classes at the University. While most supervisors on the security force are white, virtually all the guards are black or hispanic.
He contacted me recently to alert me that the National Labor Relations Board has upheld his appeal that his dismissal was "irregular" and has appointed an investigator to determine whether the Columbia Security department engages in unfair labor practices and to investigate Higgs' accusation that a supervisor, James Conlon, harassed witnesses during the initial labor arbitration over his dismissal. Conlon has been reported as telling potential witnesss, "If you go to this, I'll tell your lieutenant to write you up for insubordination," to "blackmail" anyone who would give sympathetic testimony. If the appeal verifies Higgs' claim, the University will be forced to settle with him, probably including back pay and benefits for the past year of unemployment.
Currently employed guards, speaking under anonymously, repeated allegations of discrimination, harassment, and misconduct and traced many to Conlon. One guard called him "the main culprit-and he's influenced all the others, to think like him." Another guard claimed Conlon goes out of his way to write up guards for violations, even when he is off duty. Several guards said that Conlon had made statements such as, "You are not here to go to school, you are here to work," while himself taking classes at SIPA.
Higgs points out that the atmosphere is not one of explicit racial epithets (although a cartoon of Buckwheat was posted on one black guard's locker), but one of constant humiliation. "They use situations to try and confront guards, not to correct problems, but to try and provoke and incite something," said one guard. Higgs added, "The sword of Damocles that they hang over your head is unemployment." He commented that since many of the guards are immigrants, they may not be aware of their rights, or may be too grateful to be employed to take action.
Although removing Conlon from the department would be a "big step," according to Higgs, a current employee said there are many others who have been "shielded", alleging that they have "long rap sheets of grievances, of sexual harassment, that have never been addressed" because the administration refuses to act on employee grievances.
Most of the guards I spoke to gave much credit to President Bollinger's new administration, though, noting that George Smart, the vice-president of security who put a "force field" around Conlon, has been replaced, and that there seems to be a new willingness to work with employees. One guard said there is more flexibility about religious requirements, saying "That's something to be commended for, this new sensitivty. There is hope." Yet no currently employed guard let me take his name, and our interviews were all conducted carefully out of range of ever-present security cameras. One guard noted, "It's difficult for anyone to speak their mind . . . If you speak out, retaliation will come. . . . Even just associating with [Higgs] could bring the wrath of the department. . . . Things are better, but trust won't come immediately. That trust has to be earned."
Higgs and others also commented that the new union president, Kelvin McAllister, is regarded as doing a far better job than his predecessor, Sam Delgado, who was derided as "being in bed with management." Mandatory overtime and excessively strict absence policies (three days permitted every four months for any reason) were seen as having been snuck into the union contract under Delgado's leadership, and he was suspected of receiving gifts and kickbacks for his part in "selling out" the security guards.
Higgs emphasized, "They're intimidated by anyone who is intelligent. They want you to feel inferior." Certainly, the complaints I heard from Higgs and others over and over again came from the desire to be treated as intelligent adults-to be allowed to take sick days responsibly and attend to personal emergencies during a workday. They reflect a workforce of guards who think of themselves as deserving respect but are forced into a demeaning subservience. Higgs hopes that the mainstream media he has contacted will soon take on his story and that of Columbia's institutional racism.
No Columbia administrators, such as Mr. Conlon, were available for comment at the time of publication of this article.
He contacted me recently to alert me that the National Labor Relations Board has upheld his appeal that his dismissal was "irregular" and has appointed an investigator to determine whether the Columbia Security department engages in unfair labor practices and to investigate Higgs' accusation that a supervisor, James Conlon, harassed witnesses during the initial labor arbitration over his dismissal. Conlon has been reported as telling potential witnesss, "If you go to this, I'll tell your lieutenant to write you up for insubordination," to "blackmail" anyone who would give sympathetic testimony. If the appeal verifies Higgs' claim, the University will be forced to settle with him, probably including back pay and benefits for the past year of unemployment.
Currently employed guards, speaking under anonymously, repeated allegations of discrimination, harassment, and misconduct and traced many to Conlon. One guard called him "the main culprit-and he's influenced all the others, to think like him." Another guard claimed Conlon goes out of his way to write up guards for violations, even when he is off duty. Several guards said that Conlon had made statements such as, "You are not here to go to school, you are here to work," while himself taking classes at SIPA.
Higgs points out that the atmosphere is not one of explicit racial epithets (although a cartoon of Buckwheat was posted on one black guard's locker), but one of constant humiliation. "They use situations to try and confront guards, not to correct problems, but to try and provoke and incite something," said one guard. Higgs added, "The sword of Damocles that they hang over your head is unemployment." He commented that since many of the guards are immigrants, they may not be aware of their rights, or may be too grateful to be employed to take action.
Although removing Conlon from the department would be a "big step," according to Higgs, a current employee said there are many others who have been "shielded", alleging that they have "long rap sheets of grievances, of sexual harassment, that have never been addressed" because the administration refuses to act on employee grievances.
Most of the guards I spoke to gave much credit to President Bollinger's new administration, though, noting that George Smart, the vice-president of security who put a "force field" around Conlon, has been replaced, and that there seems to be a new willingness to work with employees. One guard said there is more flexibility about religious requirements, saying "That's something to be commended for, this new sensitivty. There is hope." Yet no currently employed guard let me take his name, and our interviews were all conducted carefully out of range of ever-present security cameras. One guard noted, "It's difficult for anyone to speak their mind . . . If you speak out, retaliation will come. . . . Even just associating with [Higgs] could bring the wrath of the department. . . . Things are better, but trust won't come immediately. That trust has to be earned."
Higgs and others also commented that the new union president, Kelvin McAllister, is regarded as doing a far better job than his predecessor, Sam Delgado, who was derided as "being in bed with management." Mandatory overtime and excessively strict absence policies (three days permitted every four months for any reason) were seen as having been snuck into the union contract under Delgado's leadership, and he was suspected of receiving gifts and kickbacks for his part in "selling out" the security guards.
Higgs emphasized, "They're intimidated by anyone who is intelligent. They want you to feel inferior." Certainly, the complaints I heard from Higgs and others over and over again came from the desire to be treated as intelligent adults-to be allowed to take sick days responsibly and attend to personal emergencies during a workday. They reflect a workforce of guards who think of themselves as deserving respect but are forced into a demeaning subservience. Higgs hopes that the mainstream media he has contacted will soon take on his story and that of Columbia's institutional racism.
No Columbia administrators, such as Mr. Conlon, were available for comment at the time of publication of this article.