Thomas softens stance on guard union.

Downtown landlord Jim Thomas is backing off on his opposition to unionize security guards, although Rob Maguire, whose real estate company owns nearly half of the downtown office market, remains opposed to organizing efforts by the Service Employees International Union.

Thomas Properties Group LLC, which Thomas heads as president and chief executive, is now "neutral" towards the unionizing efforts at the company's three downtown office towers.

Thomas Properties backed off after pressure from the California State Teachers Retirement System, which is a major investor in City National Plaza, Thomas' signature downtown property.

"The question of whether the security guards should be organized is a matter for the (security) contractor and the security guards," Thomas wrote in a letter to Chris Allman, Calstrs' chief investment officer.

Neither Thomas nor Maguire said they opposed in principle efforts to unionize security guards. Rather, both maintained that under National Labor Relations Board code it's illegal for the SEIU to represent both guard and non-guard employees on the same site. The SEIU represents janitors in most of the downtown office towers.

Thomas dropped this line of argument in his April 7 letter to Calstrs, in part because of the Calstrs board's insistence that he adhere to their own "responsible contractor policy" of non-interference in unionization efforts.

"We had a very serious discussion with Thomas about the risks of his decision to continue to oppose the unionization drive," said Calstrs Chief Executive Jack Ehnes.

Karen Diehl, spokeswoman for Thomas Properties, said Thomas had no further comments beyond what he has written in letters to the various parties involved in the SEIU unionization issue.

Maguire has maintained his stance on the unionization efforts.

"The law recognizes that there is a conflict of interest when a union represents both guard employees and non-guard employees," Maguire spokeswoman Peggy Moretti said in a written statement. "It has been the national law for over 50 years that the National Labor Relations Board will not conduct an election or certify a union in a guard unit if it also represents non-guard employees."

SEIU officials counter that their union has represented janitors and security guards in buildings all over the country for decades and there has never been a legal challenge raised to this practice.

Moretti did not return calls last week. If Maguire were to declare neutrality in SEIU's unionization drive, it would be seen as a signal for other building owners and security contractors to follow suit.

Currently, an estimated 1,000 security guards work in downtown office towers; only a few dozen of those are unionized. There are four major security contractors: Tustin-based Universal Protection Service, El Monte-based Guard Systems Inc., Houston-based American Commercial Security Services Inc. and Stockholm, Sweden-based Securitas AB. Universal Protection and Guard Systems are both affiliates of St. Louis-based TransNational Security Group.

Steve Jones, chief operating officer of Universal Protection Service said, "This is a very delicate situation for us, and we have no comment at this time."

SEIU began its push to unionize the guards after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when attention was focused on the need for stable, well-trained security forces in emergencies.

Jono Shaffer, director of the SEIU's national security organizing campaign, said non-union guard forces have a high turnover rate because of low pay and difficult working conditions.

SEIU has stepped up its corporate governance campaign against Maguire Properties, issuing periodic "MPG Monitor" newsletters to shareholders and investors. This included suggestions that Maguire's plan to acquire a $1.5 billion office portfolio from CommonWealth Partners was "overpriced."

Meanwhile, SEIU has been drumming up support, working with L.A. city officials on a proposed ordinance calling for voluntary training guidelines and better coordination between the guards and police and fire services.

L.A. City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who wrote the ordinance, said it's not meant to push for unionized security guards. Rather, she said, it would smooth out the emergency response in case of future terrorist threats or natural disasters.

"Security guards are often the first responders and information gatherers," Perry said. "It seemed appropriate to create a voluntary program to bring standards of education and performance among security guards that would improve our readiness for emergencies."

Staff Reporter Andy Fixmer contributed to this story.