The majority of security officers in downtown Seattle are currently in discussion with their contractors about the future of wages, benefits, and workplace conditions. Actually, five major security companies (Allied/Barton, Securitas, Northwest Protective, ABM, Star Protection Agency) representing 750 workers are at the bargaining table.

These companies have allowed their workers to choose if they wanted union representation with Service Employees Int'l Union (SEIU) Local 6. Northwest Security services, the only other big security company, refuses to give their workers a choice. They represent 14% of the market. Jobs with Justice has been supporting this campaign for the last 6 months through actions, community strategy sessions and community delegations.

Here is what officers have to say about working for Paul Dockendorff and Northwest Security Services.

Officers Claim Northwest Security Services' Wages and Benefits are Inadequate:

• NWSS only offers three scheduled raises in the entirety of an officers' career—all within the first two years of employment. An officer who has worked for NWSS for nearly a decade makes only 64 cents more per hour than new hires.
• claims its health care benefits are "affordable," yet officers pay $667 a month for family health care—over one third of an officer's monthly income at NWSS's highest wage. Officers claim this expensive coverage is "bare minimum" and rarely helps them because the deductible is $1000 per person.

Officers Allege Northwest Security Services Abuses Sick Officers:

• does not offer paid sick time to officers. One officer stated, "NWSS preys upon officers not being able to afford taking time off when they're sick."
• Officer claims that NWSS's clients are often more concerned about the wellbeing of officers than NWSS management. When management forced an officer to attend work while ill, the client chose to send him home. This officer claims management threatened to "remember him" when "the time for layoffs comes."
• Officers state that they are chastised for being ill. One officer claims management told him he was "no good" to them if he would not come to work sick—despite the fact that he had rarely taken time off in the past.
• One officer claims that management was "trying to get rid of" a coworker after she was unable to return to work immediately following major surgery.

Officers Feel Powerless and Threatened By Management:

This year's MLK Jr. County contest had two very deserving candidates. Paul Dockendorff beat out another MLK Jr. County Finalist: Greedy 'Gubby' the Overpaid Premera CEO - Herbert Randle Brereton ("Gubby") Barlow.

' Scrooge of the Year' candidates are nominated for doing the most harm to working families in our community. Previous winners of the award have met an untimely demise, such as former Darigold CEO John Mueller, former Tacoma Macy's Store Manager Carol Lorton, former Tacoma City Councilmember Kevin Phelps, former US Senator Slade Gorton, former UW President Richard McCormick, and former Congressperson Newt Gingrich. Other Scrooge winners have since grown a heart three times larger and have become socially responsible community leaders.

JwJ activists pledge "we'll be there," we're not scared of any Scrooge. By publicly awarding the Scrooge of the Year, our expectation is that the Paul Dockendorff 's heart will grow 3 sizes bigger, as Dr. Seuss envisioned. This year's Scrooge cuts against the grain of what it means to be a generous American. At a time he is amassing great wealth, Paul Dockendorff could show great leadership to support workers in need of healthcare, decent wages and respect on the job. Instead he has so far turned to Scroogey motives.

Losing Candidate in 2007 Scrooge Contest:

Herbert Randle Brereton ("Gubby") Barlow, Overpaid Premera CEO

Reasons for Greedy Gubby's Nomination:
For the first six months of this year Premera's cash reserves have skyrocketed to $746 million. But instead of lowering rates Premera was caught siphoning $37 million from their individual policy holders in Washington to prop up their for-profit operations in Arizona. Then in November Premera turned around and raised rates on those same policy holders by 22.5 percent!

It's wrong to raise rates on the most vulnerable policy holders--small businesses and the self-employed--when Premera has such a huge surplus. And it's wrong to make them pay to subsidize Premera's for-profit activities in other states. (Mr. Barlow himself earned almost $2 million last year, about double what the CEOs of the other two largest insurance companies in WA made.)

This January, community organizations will be asking the state legislature to restore to the Insurance Commissioner the power to regulate rates on individual policies. By recognizing Gubby Barlow as Scrooge of the Year, we can show support for that and shine a light on how the big insurance companies are exploiting us all.

Previous Year's Scrooge Winners: 2006 2004 2003 2002 2001