The Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) is a labor union that represents security guards and other privately employed security professionals in the United States. ¹ It represents roughly 16,000 security workers in the United States, including privately employed contract guards at federal government facilities for agencies such as NASA, the Transportation Security Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Customs and Border Protection. ^{2 3}

The SPFPA has a contentious relationship with other labor unions for security guards and aggressively recruits members of other unions to transfer their affiliation to SPFPA. ^{4 5 6}

History and Leadership

The international union Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America was founded in 1948 as the United Plant Guard Workers of America. In 2000, the union changed its name to encompass its expansion into representing security guards and related workers at facilities such as nuclear plants, college campuses, courthouse facilities, airports, federal office buildings, and other venues. ⁷

The president of SPFPA is David Hickey, who has led the union since 2000. As of 2024, he was in his fifth consecutive term in office. ^{8 9}

In 2003, the Federation of Police, Security, and Correction Officers (FOPSCO); American Federation of Security Officers (AFSO); National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO); Arizona Armored Car Association; Raytheon Guard Association; and United States Court Security Officers (USCSO) all merged with SPFPA. ¹⁰

Currently, SPFPA has four affiliated unions: K-9 Enforcement Officers National Unions (K9NEONU), Nuclear Enforcement Officers National Unions (NEONU), Federal Protective Service Officers National Unions (FPSONU), and Security Officers Airport Response (SOAR). ¹¹

In 2015, SPFPA security guards at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., decertified their union, but SPFPA continued deducting dues from their paychecks, claiming that the workers could only resign their union membership during a specific one-month “window” each year. ¹² In 2017, SPFPA settled a case brought by two of the workers and agreed to refund $20,000 in dues. ¹³

In 2021, the independent union of security guards at Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida voted to affiliate with the SPFPA. ¹⁴ That affiliation became official in 2023 when the SPFPA negotiated its first contract on behalf of Disneyland security guards in California, securing an immediate $6/hour raise in 2023 and $1/hour raises for 2024 and 2025. ¹⁵

Conflicts with Other Security Guard Unions

Under Section 9(b)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act, unions that represent security guards are not allowed to represent non-guard workers or affiliate with unions that do. ¹⁶ As a result, the SPFPA is not affiliated with the AFL-CIO or other international labor federation. ¹⁷

The SPFPA claims positive relations with the AFL-CIO and other, non-guard unions such as the United Steelworkers (USW), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Automobile Workers (UAW), United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), Unite Here, and International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). ¹⁸ However, the SPFPA has a hostile relationship with other guard unions and actively recruits workers who are members of such unions to change their affiliation to the SPFPA. ¹⁹

SPFPA has an adversarial relationship with the United Federation LEOS-PBA, a security guard union created in 2021 from the merger of The United Federation of Special Police and Security Officers, the National Union of Special Police Officers, and Law Enforcement Officers Security and Police Benevolent Association. ²⁰

In a SPFPA blog post celebrating a 2022 request by private security guards working at Transportation Security Administration facilities in Virginia to schedule a vote on leaving LEOS-PBA, SPFPA referred to the other union as “failing its members with their ‘missing in action’ approach to service and support” and called it the “failing federation.” ²¹ In return, LEOS-PBA refers to SPFPA as “SPiT-FA” and accused SPFPA vice president Joe McCray of assaulting its organizing director (and former SPFPA employee) Steve Maritas at an event in Hawaii where the two unions were competing to organize security guards. ²²

Maritas was also at the center of litigation between the two unions, as LEOS-PBA and Maritas sued SPFPA for defamation and other causes over messages sent to LEOS-PBA members alleging a variety of criminal and immoral behavior by Maritas; while SPFPA sued  in turn for trademark violation and other grounds. ^{23 24} A federal judge rejected many of Maritas’s claims. ²⁵ The judge then granted SPFPA’s motion to dismiss Maritas’s defamation claims on the grounds that the statements were substantially true within the bounds of federal defamation law. ^{26 27} The judge allowed one statement to go forward to trial. ²⁸

1.  “SPFPA -The Global Authority of Security Police Unions.” SPFPA Union. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/.
2. ^[1] “SPFPA – FAQs.” SPFPA Union, February 9, 2021. https://spfpa.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-spfpa.
3. “FORM LM-2 LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORT.” United States Department of Labor, July 4, 2023. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=869792&rptForm=LM2Form.
4.  “SPFPA News.” SPFPA Union. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/news.
5. Jean-Giles, Brikener. “Spit-FA VP Joe McCray Physically Assaults UFLEOS-PBA Org Director Steve Maritas in Hawaii.” PBA, January 4, 2024. https://www.leospba.org/post/spit-fa-vp-joe-mccray-physically-assaults-ufleos-pba-org-director-steve-maritas-in-hawaii.
6. Woolley, John. “Police Union Scores Wins over Competitor in IP, Defamation Suit.” Bloomberg Law, April 3, 2023. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/police-union-scores-wins-over-competitor-in-ip-defamation-suit.
7. ^[1] “History of SPFPA.” SPFPA Union. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/history-of-spfpa.
8. “SPFPA -The Global Authority of Security Police Unions.” SPFPA Union. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/.
9. “History of SPFPA.” SPFPA Union. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/history-of-spfpa.
10. “7-WAY UNIFICATION MAKES HISTORY!” SPFPA. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2003SPFPANewsletter.pdf.
11. “SPFPA -The Global Authority of Security Police Unions.” SPFPA Union. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/.
12. “Federal Settlement Forces Union Officials to Refund $20,000 after Illegally Seizing Union Dues from Workers.” National Right to Work Foundation, August 7, 2017. https://www.nrtw.org/news/washington-dc-workers-win-federal-settlement04032017/.
13.  “Federal Settlement Forces Union Officials to Refund $20,000 after Illegally Seizing Union Dues from Workers.” National Right to Work Foundation, August 7, 2017. https://www.nrtw.org/news/washington-dc-workers-win-federal-settlement04032017/.
14. “1200 IESA Disneyland Officers Make History and Overwhelmingly Vote to Affiliate with IUSPFPA!” SPFPA Union, October 7, 2021. https://spfpa.org/iesa-and-spfpa-affiliation.
15. Smith, Kevin. “Disney Security Workers Getting $8 an Hour Raise in New Contract.” San Bernardino Sun, April 18, 2023. https://www.sbsun.com/2023/04/18/disney-security-workers-getting-8-an-hour-raise-in-new-contract/.
16. Jensen, Eric M. (1986) “The NLRA’s “Guard Exclusion”: An Analysis of Section 9(b)(3)’s Legislative Intent.
17. “SPFPA – FAQs.” SPFPA Union, February 9, 2021. https://spfpa.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-spfpa.
18. “SPFPA – FAQs.” SPFPA Union, February 9, 2021. https://spfpa.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-spfpa.
19. “SPFPA News.” SPFPA Union. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/news.
20. ^[1] DeBow, Tom. “Merger of Three Police Security Unions Creates ‘United Federation LEOS-PBA’ a Major New Union Representing More than 5,000 Officers Nationwide.” United Federation of Special Police and Security Officers, Inc., March 3, 2021. http://securityfederation.com/documents/UFSPSO-Merger-Annc.pdf.
21. “SPFPA News.” SPFPA Union. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://spfpa.org/news.
22. Jean-Giles, Brikener. “Spit-FA VP Joe McCray Physically Assaults UFLEOS-PBA Org Director Steve Maritas in Hawaii.” PBA, January 4, 2024. https://www.leospba.org/post/spit-fa-vp-joe-mccray-physically-assaults-ufleos-pba-org-director-steve-maritas-in-hawaii.
23. Murphy, Stephen J. “OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BY THE SPFPA PARTIES.” UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION , March 30, 2023. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-mied-2_19-cv-10743/pdf/USCOURTS-mied-2_19-cv-10743-3.pdf.
24. Woolley, John. “Police Union Scores Wins over Competitor in IP, Defamation Suit.” Bloomberg Law, April 3, 2023. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/police-union-scores-wins-over-competitor-in-ip-defamation-suit.
25. Murphy, Stephen J. “OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BY THE SPFPA PARTIES.” UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION , March 30, 2023. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-mied-2_19-cv-10743/pdf/USCOURTS-mied-2_19-cv-10743-3.pdf.
26. Murphy, Stephen J. “OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BY THE SPFPA PARTIES.” UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION , March 30, 2023. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-mied-2_19-cv-10743/pdf/USCOURTS-mied-2_19-cv-10743-3.pdf.
27. Woolley, John. “Police Union Scores Wins over Competitor in IP, Defamation Suit.” Bloomberg Law, April 3, 2023. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/police-union-scores-wins-over-competitor-in-ip-defamation-suit.
28. Murphy, Stephen J. “OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BY THE SPFPA PARTIES.” UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION , March 30, 2023. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-mied-2_19-cv-10743/pdf/USCOURTS-mied-2_19-cv-10743-3.pdf.