Purple-shirted employees of the security firm charged with guarding Harbor East filled the neighborhood with their cries Thursday, calling for union recognition as they circled the golden monument at its center.
More than 30 people participated in the protest against Brantley Security Services, which workers say has retaliated against some of them for trying to organize a union. Some were planning to participate in a 24-hour strike, expected to end Friday afternoon.
"I'm hoping the strike will bring attention to us and what we go through down here in Harbor East, and I hope it will open the eyes of the supervisors," said David E. Carter, 21, of Baltimore, who said he would not be reporting Thursday for his $13-an-hour, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift. "I am very optimistic. ... I believe they see us coming together as one."
The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which represents property service workers, has been working for more than a year to unionize Baltimore security guards and is in contract negotiations with several major firms, said area director Jaime Contreras.
Brantley Security, a Kentucky-based company that contracts with Harbor East Management Group, rebuffed an attempt to deliver a petition to leadership in October, Contreras said. Organizers want Brantley to voluntarily recognize a union, avoiding the often-lengthy process of ballot elections.
Neither Brantley nor Harbor East Management Group responded to requests for comment.
More than half of the approximately 75 Brantley workers at Harbor East signed the petition, Carter said.
Days later, one of the employees who participated, Travis Henson-Rollins, was suspended for two days, told that her two-tone locks did not comply with company policies.
"I got hired with two-tone hair," said Henson-Rollins, 27, who has worked for Brantley for about three years and earns $10.30 an hour. Henson-Rollins said she now wears a snood to cover her hair at work.
The SEIU 32BJ filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over the suspension and an email sent to workers, forbidding them from work premises when they are not working.
"I know going on strike isn't an easy thing to do, but it also shows them you're not scared," Contreras told workers, as bullhorn chants of "Brantley Security, shame on you!" prompted stares and some passing businessmen to glance up from cellphones.
Dr. Jeffery Mitchell of RiverBrook World Impact Church said he attended the rally to show that the faith community supports the efforts.
"They need to have a fair working wage," he said. "I'm here to support that."