Home ›

Chicago

Dominican University Cafeteria Workers Win Union

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Wed, 02/16/2011 - 14:49
in

Share

Approximately 30 campus dining workers at Dominican University have won union recognition from their employer, Chartwells, choosing to join UNITE HERE Local 1.

"I'm proud of the work we do, and I’m glad that Chartwells respected us and let me and my coworkers choose what we wanted. I support the union because we deserve a voice on the job. Now we will be able to negotiate for better wages and benefits that will move my family forward, and make life better for the workers that come after us," said Frank Studaway, a cook in the Dominican University dining halls.

Recently, a majority of Dominican campus dining workers, with support from Dominican faculty, students, and clergy asked Chartwells for a fair process to choose a union. The company agreed to a process and recognized UNITE HERE Local 1 on Thursday, February 10th.

Liesl Orenic, a history professor at Dominican, said, "We value community at Dominican, so it's exciting to see that honored by our food service vendor. Dominican's mission of creating a more just and humane world is strengthened when all members of the Dominican community, including dining service workers, have a voice."

Donna M. Carroll, President of Dominican University, added, "As a Catholic University, we believe strongly in the dignity of the human person and his or her right to free association, clear voice and a just wage. The Chartwells workers are part of the Dominican University community, and we care about the quality of their working life. I appreciate the forthright manner in which Chartwells management and UNITE HERE Local 1 are approaching this union organizing drive."

The Dominican University workers are the third group of cafeteria workers at a Catholic college or university to win union representation with UNITE HERE in the past three months. In November, over 200 dining workers at Loyola University Chicago joined UNITE HERE Local 1 and more than 50 dining workers at St. Peters College in Jersey City, NJ, joined UNITE HERE Local 100.

In joining UNITE HERE, the Dominican workers join the leading union of food service workers in North America, joining dining workers from over 100 campuses across the United States and Canada. In Chicago, the Dominican workers join dining workers at Loyola University and DePaul University who are also members of UNITE HERE Local 1. Campus dining workers at De Paul recently won a great new contract, which included significant improvements in wages and healthcare benefits as well as protections for immigrant workers. 

Newspaper Editorial Sparks Heated Response at Northwestern

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 15:57
in

Share

The day following our last guest post from the Northwestern Living Wage Campaign, the Daily Northwestern student newspaper weighed in on the issue of campus workers.

The editorial, “Living Wage Wrong for Northwestern,” argues that, “implementing a ‘living wage’ could actually harm campus workers.” They elaborated that a living wage might disqualify workers from government assistance like “earned income tax credit, child tax credits, Medicaid and food stamps.” 

You can read through the full editorial here. We think that the attitudes in the editorial reflect a deep disconnect between students and workers that exists on many campuses. They are attitudes that we often face when we campaign for real change, when we truly challenge our institutions to treat workers as equals in our communities. 
 
Of course, we think the best way to challenge these attitudes is to build real relationships with workers on campus and to end the invisibility of their stories and their lives (see our Building Community Across Counters campaign).
 
That’s just what the Northwestern students in the Living Wage Campaign have been doing. In their response, they wrote, “We challenge Northwestern as we have challenged ourselves: to really get to know the workers on campus.” They had more to say and all sorts of other folks weighed in on the forum pages of the paper in the following days as well:
 
 
When Cleve Jones, the remarkable organizer and activist featured in the film Milk, spoke on campus, he jumped into the fray as well – firmly behind the Living Wage Campaign, going so far as to directly call out the Daily editorial:
 

What would you say if the student newspaper at your school wrote an editorial like this one? How would you organize to change it? Have you faced common attitudes at your school? Send us a message with your thoughts. 

Victories Roll In, The Struggle for Fair Food Continues

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 12:20
in

Share

The past month has seen huge strides in workers’ struggle to win justice in the food chain, from the fields to our campus kitchens.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has forever changed the agricultural industry in Florida, winning a groundbreaking victory with the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE), following victories with industry leaders Pacific Growers and Six L’s.
 
Meanwhile, in Chicago, tremendously courageous campus dining workers at Loyola University took a public stand and won a union, joining UNITE HERE Local 1. They join the union of campus dining workers across the United States and Canada, including those just a few miles away at DePaul University, who won a great new contract, which included important rights for immigrant workers.
 
Of course, the struggle is not over. We have to keep fighting, and we have to keep standing in solidarity with each other, connecting those who pick our food to those who cook it and serve it to us every day. 
 
In that spirit, Alan Camacho, a cook and one of the worker leaders at DePaul, helped lead a delegation to Trader Joe’s as part of the Student/Farmworker Alliance national week of action to build on the recent CIW victories and hold supermarkets accountable for working conditions in Florida’s tomato fields.

 
Keep up with all of the other great events as part of the SFA week of action at http://www.sfalliance.org.

 

Campus Dining Workers at Loyola University Chicago Win Union

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Wed, 11/17/2010 - 14:03
in

Share

After months of organizing, over 200 campus dining workers at Loyola University Chicago have won union representation, choosing to join UNITE HERE Local 1.

"I feel blessed. A union means a better life for me and my family," said Janet Irving, a Loyola campus dining worker and member of the worker organizing committee that had been building support for the union at Loyola, one of the leading Catholic Jesuit universities in the nation.

In October, a majority of Loyola campus dining workers, with support from Loyola faculty, students, and clergy approached the employer about a fair process to choose a union. The company agreed to a process and recognized UNITE HERE Local 1 on Tuesday, November 16th.

The campus dining workforce at Loyola comes from all over the world, with 16 different countries of origin. Many dining workers at Loyola have served the student and faculty community for decades.

With UNITE HERE, the Loyola workers join the leading union of food service workers in North America, joining dining workers from over 100 campuses across the United States and Canada. In Chicago, the Loyola workers join dining workers at DePaul University who are also members of UNITE HERE Local 1 and recently won a great new contract, which included significant improvements in wages and healthcare benefits as well as protections for immigrant workers.

The worker organizing committee at Loyola will enter into contract negotiations with their employer in the coming months. For now, they are celebrating. "I love taking care of the students in the dining halls, and I feel great that now I will get to do it as a union member," Loyola dining service worker Eva Rangel said.

 

Updates from the Northwestern Struggle

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Mon, 11/08/2010 - 18:37
in

Share

[Editor’s Note: Not to be left out of the exciting stories coming out of Chicago lately, this quick update comes from Michael Waxman, a student leader of the Northwestern Living Wage Campaign.] 

 
The Northwestern Living Wage Campaign has had an exciting past couple weeks!
 
On October 23, Northwestern organizers turned out 120 students and 22 workers and their families to march in the university’s Homecoming Parade in support of an inclusive Northwestern community.
 
Northwestern students and workers in the Homecoming Parade.
 

      Before the parade, the Living Wage Campaign used this video to encourage folks to join them.
 
Beyond students and workers, the Campaign has also just begun reaching out to other members of the university community, such as university donors and members of the Board of Trustees.
 
Meanwhile, the administration is working with Campaign leadership to implement the community benefits that the university agreed to extend to workers last spring. These benefits include:
  • Non-university classes
  • Contractor ID cards that provide library access
  • Increased access to campus shuttles
  • Educational grants
  • Discounts at local stores
  • Northwestern theater and music grants
There’s a lot of work left to do, but the Northwestern community remains committed to winning living wages for all its workers.
 
[Another Editor’s Note: We here at Stir It Up think that the joint student/worker presence at the Homecoming parade is a great example of Building Community Across Counters!]

 

Dining Workers Win Fair Process to Choose Union at Loyola University Chicago

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Wed, 11/03/2010 - 12:07
in

Share

Campus dining workers at the Loyola University Chicago, one of the premier Catholic, Jesuit universities in the country, are celebrating today. Their employer has agreed to a fair process for its employees at Loyola to choose whether to join a union. On October 13, campus dining workers at the school approached their managers asking for exactly that.
 
“We are thrilled that the company has chosen to respect us and listen to our concerns,” said Eva Rangel, a member of the worker organizing committee that has been building support for a union at Loyola. “This fair process will ensure my coworkers are not afraid to choose to support a union here.”
 
On October 20, members of the Loyola community had shown their support and appreciation for the workers’ service at a special blessing of the workers at St. Gertrude’s Church near campus.
 
The campus dining workforce at Loyola comes from all over the world, with 16 different countries of origin. There are over 190 workers total.
 
The worker organizing committee at Loyola has been consulting with UNITE HERE, the leading union of food service workers in the United States.

 

Winning Immigrants’ Rights on the Job

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Tue, 11/02/2010 - 12:55
in

Share

UNITE HERE’s recent victories bring new protections to immigrant workers
 
Campus dining workers at DePaul University, one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States, recently celebrated a huge victory in contract negotiations. The workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 1, won great wage increases and healthcare benefits and also joined a growing movement of workers who are winning immigration reform that starts at the workplace.
  

"My name is Mayrallana Nunez. I have been working at DePaul University for over ten years as a Cold Prep Cook. Almost all of my co-workers are immigrants, and many of them are my family members. My sister, husband, mother, sister-in-law all work here and we are all immigrants from Mexico. When we first started organizing our union, we wanted the same thing as anyone else; free health insurance, a living wage, and respect. But I was scared. I was scared that the bosses would try and use my co-workers’ immigration status against them, that the bosses would try and get us in trouble if we spoke up. We still fought, and we won. I am happy. I am very happy that we won free health insurance, but I am happier that we won protection for my family and all my co-workers who are immigrants. We don't have to be afraid to speak up anymore."

 
Protection for immigrant workers was a central bargaining issue for the DePaul worker negotiating committee. The resulting contract includes language ensuring that:
 
  • Employees will not be disciplined for Social Security no-match letters
  • The employer will limit immigration status checks to what I-9 forms require
  • Employees have a 2-year window to return or be rehired to work in the case of immigration problems
  • No employee will experience a loss of seniority, compensation or benefits due to changes in name or social security number
  •  Employees have a paid day off on the date of being sworn in as a U.S. citizen
  • Meetings will be conducted in workers’ first language
 
Hospitality workers across the United States have also proposed improvements in immigrant worker protection in their contract negotiations. In many cities, workers have already won some of these protections and are building upon their past success. 
 

While continuing to call on our nation’s elected leaders to fix our broken immigration system, these workers are taking leadership themselves, setting new standards and opening new possibilities in the movement for immigrant rights.

Make sure to support workers at all Catholic Universities by signing our letter of support.

Click here to download a handout version of this post to share with anyone who might be interested!


Breaking News at DePaul: Dining Workers Win Improved Health Benefits and Wages!

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Fri, 10/22/2010 - 12:08
in

Share

"Even with all the obstacles that we went through...we stood together....and we got a great contract."            -Chanteen Hardaway, Campus Dining Worker, DePaul University
 
After several difficult months of organizing and negotiating, the campus dining workers at DePaul, members of UNITE HERE Local 1, won an agreement with their employer Chartwells (Compass Group) that gives them vast improvements in wages, health benefits and immigration protection language.  The contract was ratified last night by a 68 to 0 vote! 
 
DePaul is the largest Catholic University in the United States.  The DePaul students' insistence that the DePaul administration uphold Catholic values of social justice was instrumental in the campaign's success.  [To hold all Catholic Universities accountable to this standard, sign our national letter to Catholic administrators.]
 
The DePaul student body supported the workers with a campus Living Wage Campaign throughout the entire process.  Last semester, in addition to putting on a student-worker concert to build support for a Living Wage, students addressed their concerns to the DePaul Board of Trustees and, in a powerful show of solidarity, personally delivered a 1,500-signature-strong petition to the President of DePaul.
 
The result of the student-worker solidarity:  
  • Fully provided single-coverage health plan for 80 full-time workers by the end of the contract; and only $85 per month for full family coverage.
  • Minimum wages of between $11.80 and $14.30 per hour (depending on job classification) for presently employed workers by the end of the contract.  Right now workers make as little as $9.25 per hour. 
  • Contract language that protects immigrants from employer abuse, including clauses ensuring that the employees will not be disciplined for Social Security no-match letters, that the employer will limit immigration status checks to what I-9 forms require, and that employees have a 2-year window to return to their job in the case of immigration problems.
A great contract, and a great campaign.  The DePaul Living Wage Campaign of 2010 had a huge impact on both the students and the workers who were involved.  
 
At last week's celebratory BBQ, students and workers had an opportunity to reflect on their experience.  Check out the video and then find out how you can get involved on your campus! 
 

With this huge victory under its belt the DePaul Living Wage Campaign will continue to work with the university administration to improve the university's campus-wide living wage policy.

Location Change for Loyola Solidarity Event!

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Tue, 10/19/2010 - 17:03
in

Share

Greetings, folks.  If you were planning to join the Loyola Chicago campus dining workers on Wednesday, please note a new location for the event:

St. Gertrude's Church
6214 N. Glenwood Ave.
Chicago, IL 60660

The church is at the corner of Granville and Glenwood, about a 10 minute walk from campus. 

 

Breaking News at Loyola University Chicago

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 17:29
in

Share

This afternoon, campus dining workers at Loyola University Chicago delivered petitions to their general manager demanding a fair process to form a union.  A worker organizing committee, which includes worker leaders from locations across Loyola and across shifts and departments, had been training and organizing underground over the recent months in preparation for today. The committee had about 70% of their workers signed on the petition they delivered.


The worker organizing committee from Loyola University Chicago

“I am here because I want to have a voice on the job and to get more respect,” Carolina Aguilar said recently about why she is a member of the worker organizing committee. .

Danielle Wisnasky, a Loyola senior who has worked part-time in the cafeterias since she was a freshman and who is also part of the organizing committee, said, “As a student at Loyola, it is discouraging to work in an environment where the Jesuit mission is abused and overlooked.”

The campus dining workforce at Loyola comes from all over the world, with 16 different countries of origin. There are over 180 workers total, many of whom are immigrants and most of whom people of color. 

The committee leaders see their organizing not just as a way to change their jobs but also as a way to prepare to change the rest of their lives. “I want to be part of the organizing of the union because it will be something that will give us, all who are part of it, more life experience to know how to fight for anything we want,” said Eva Rangel.

Students and faculty have quickly begun mobilizing support for the workers. If you are a student at Loyola, you can sign a solidarity letter here. If you are a professor at Loyola, you can sign one here. There will also be a gathering of support on Wednesday, October 20 at 4 pm at the “Ashtray” on Loyola’s Lake Shore campus. [UPDATE 10/19: The event has been moved to St. Gertrude's Church at 6214 N. Glenwood, a short walk from campus.]

If you don’t go to Loyola at all but want to show your support for these workers as well as workers at all Catholic universities, sign our national solidarity letter here. 

We’ll keep you up to date as the organizing and solidarity efforts unfold.

Syndicate content