CHAIR REMOVAL ANGERS GUARDS CSUN SAYS CREW ABUSED PRIVILEGE.

Byline: Erik Nelson Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - Chairs are not given out lightly at California State University, Northridge. Academicians toil for decades, write books and may sometimes even kiss up to their superiors for the coveted title.

To private security guards, however, a chair is a tool of the trade. And when relieved of their seats earlier this month, they didn't take it sitting down.

University officials and an executive for the security company said the guards were abusing their chairs, and it was necessary to strip them of the patrol perch. Instead of patrolling the campus, some were sitting in one place for too long and even reading on the job.

One guard privately complained that he and his colleagues now are being forced to work their eight-hour shifts standing up.

``You pay me $6.50 an hour, and I'm supposed to stand up for eight hours?'' said the guard who requested anonymity. He said he sometimes works as many as 11 hours and that several guards had quit over the policy.

But officials have no plans to reseat the sullen sentries.

``That's what guards do. They stand up,'' said Joe Wolf, operations manager for the guards' employer, Western Area Security in Burbank. ``It's not a job where you're sitting down at a desk.''

He added that the guards get five- to 10-minute breaks between their rounds, and they may sit for that break, during which they make notations on a report.

There are some guardposts, such as guard booths used to check identification, where chairs are appropriate, Wolf said. Those aren't, however, the kind of assignments his company does at the university.

Western provides 10 guards during the day, eight in the evening and five overnight to watch $90 million worth of construction projects aimed at rebuilding the campus since it was heavily damaged during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

At issue was just what guards were supposed to do in some areas, said Tom Tindall, assistant vice president of facilities for CSUN.

While some simply watch gates, making sure only construction workers and vehicles enter, others ``have an area of responsibility, and they're supposed to rove that area,'' Tindall said.

``What I had heard, from a couple of people, is that they were not roving, they were sitting in one place,'' he said.

Wolf was even more critical, saying guards had been seen reading on the job, and one had even been written up for the infraction.

``This isn't a new policy. It's always been there. A guard is to be constantly patrolling,'' Wolf said. ``The problem is, they were sitting down for 59 minutes, and they weren't getting up.''

Tindall said that a Western employee complained about being seatless to the office of interim university President Louanne Kennedy, although he did not know who the employee was.

Wolf said he did know, and described the person as a disgruntled ex-employee who was dismissed because his state security guard credentials had expired.

One of the guards said it was true that the complaining guard was an ex- employee whose state ``guard card'' had lapsed, but his complaint was nonetheless legitimate.

``The chairs were nice,'' said another guard who asked not to be named. ``Now we've got to stand up the whole time, and you get tired.''

Asked if he minded the work, he replied, ``It's kind of boring work, but I can eat.''