Baltimore Security Officers Rally at City Hall, Demand Right to Unionize

Security officers guarding Baltimore's water treatment plants, public housing complexes, and other city-owned buildings walked off their posts Wednesday morning and marched to City Hall, where roughly 200 workers staged a rally demanding the right to form a union.

The officers are employed by Abacus Corporation, a private contractor that has collected more than $20 million in city taxpayer dollars since 2017, much of it through emergency contract extensions that bypassed competitive bidding. The Service Employees International Union organized the action after months of escalating tension between workers and the company, with employees vacating their posts at 11:30 a.m.

SEIU organizer Julie Karant said workers planned to air their grievances publicly, including complaints about unstable scheduling and low pay. The union has filed formal charges against Abacus alleging discrimination, coercion, and retaliatory firings tied directly to workers' organizing activity.

City Council members Odette Ramos and Jermaine Jones both backed the rally. Jones issued a direct call to the company in a public statement, saying Abacus should "respect security officers' demands for the right to form a union so they can have the job security they deserve for keeping us safe."

The walkout created immediate questions about security coverage across municipal facilities, with workers leaving posts before any public confirmation that the city had arranged replacements.

The broader implications reach well beyond Abacus itself. The company's repeated emergency contract extensions, which sidestep competitive bidding, have drawn scrutiny from advocates who argue Baltimore lacks adequate oversight of private contractors funded with public money. With two council members now publicly aligned with the workers, pressure may build on the administration to attach stronger labor protections to future Abacus contract renewals or to require competitive bidding going forward.