Security officers engage in historic act of civil disobedience first in U.S. history (youtube too)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_3582

By Barb Kucera, Workday editor
27 March 2008

MINNEAPOLIS - In what is believed to be the first act of civil disobedience in U.S. history by private security officers, nine Twin Cities security officers were arrested Thursday in a nonviolent protest at the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis.

The nine were among about two dozen people who surrounded the kiosk in the center of the IDS Crystal Court, while supporters chanted and hung banners from several balconies in the huge atrium of the retail-office complex.

The decision to break the law was not taken lightly, security officer John Graham said, but "it feels good because we're doing the right thing."

Wiping away a tear, he added, "We're doing what the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., would want us to do."

Those arrested also included several ministers and other leaders of the faith community. The action was part of a campaign to win affordable health care coverage for 800 security officers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 26 who protect people and buildings in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Contract talks have bogged down over the health care issue, with the union holding a one-day strike in February and its members rejecting a final offer they said would cost the average officer more than half of monthly pay for family coverage.

FULL story and video at link.

View photos from Thursday's action: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_3581

For more information
Visit the Workday special section on the Stand for Security campaign: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?article_1_185

[babylonsister]

1. Recommend with thanks to you and the security officers. nt