Home ›

Organizing

Pomona College Dining Workers Fight for a Union

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 11:28
in

Share

The campus dining workers at Pomona College are fighting to win a union.  And the Pomona students have their back.  

On March 1st of this year the campus dining workers at Pomona College went public in their demand for a fair unionization process, free of employer intimidation.  Over 90% of the College's dining workers have signed a petition to the College administration demanding such a process.  Since that day the students of Pomona College have stood in solidarity with the workers.  The student-worker solidarity website, Pomona Workers for Justice has chronicled this effort every step of the way.

So far the administration of Pomona College--which employs the workers-- has refused to honor the workers' demand.  

If last semester is any indication, the students and workers will not let the College's position stand.  In just several months the Pomona Worker for Justice staged a large rally on campus, had a candlelight vigil for labor peace, organized a boycott of the cafeteria and gathered in large numbers to present their petitions to Pomona President David Oxtoby.  They also produced tremendous videos of the action.  

The petition action:




And here's the students' take on what happened at the rally:

 

The struggle for justice at Pomona College is right in line with how UNITE HERE and the Stir It Up campaign are fighting to change the food service industry. Expect regular updates on Stir It Up as this campaign unfolds.  And if you want to get in touch with the student-worker committee at Pomona to hear more about how they've helped organize the workers' campaign, you can do so here.  

Cafeteria Workers, Students and Allies Struggle for a Union at Carleton University

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 20:55
in

 

 
Campus cafeteria workers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario are standing up to form a union and improve their lives.  Students, faculty and other unions are standing up in solidarity with them. 
 
Aramark, the campus food service provider, is standing in the way.
 
“The Carleton University Students’ Association has been disappointed to hear repeatedly from many of our members who are employed at Aramark that Aramark has threatened and intimidated them for exercising their rights to speech and association in attempting to form a union outside company time,” said Alex Sirois, President of the Carleton University Students’ Association in a press release after the Association passed a motion in support of the cafeteria workers.
 
UNITE HERE Local 261 has already filed unfair labour practice charges against Aramark alleging targeted layoffs for known union supporters, surveillance, threats and interrogations.  But Aramark’s intimidation against the campaign extends beyond the workforce – student allies have reported being harassed by Aramark managers as well.
 
Marco Zigliotti, a second-year student at Carleton, wrote the University Security about his experience with Aramark managers:
 
I would like to report unusual and what I believe to be inappropriate conduct on the part of Aramark Carleton managers at the Fresh Food Company cafeteria in Residence Commons on Wednesday, May 12, 2010.
 
On that day, I and four other students ate at the Fresh Food Company wearing stickers in support of Aramark worker’s rights. Hundreds of people on campus have been wearing these stickers in response to what many Aramark workers have described as intimidating and threatening letters to scare people away from joining a union. 
 
The other students and I eating were made to feel like unwelcome visitors in our own university. After entering the Fresh Food Company, we were each watched and followed very closely by Aramark managers, who numbered eight, and who stood close by as we were served by employees. 
 
When we sat down, all the managers followed us and sat on either side of our table, watching us closely the whole time. This made myself and the other students feel extremely uncomfortable. Ensuring that campus is safe for all is the job of University Security, and we could not understand why Aramark managers were effectively policing us and treating us as a threat, or how that could be appropriate on our campus.
 
Locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) on Carelton’s campus have added their voice as well, creating a united voice on campus representing over 8000 unionized employees and 20000 undergraduate and graduate students.  The coalition of unions and students, called Campus United, sent a letter to University President Roseann Runte, available here.
 
Meanwhile, Olivia Chow, Member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina, Toronto, and Citizenship and Immigration critic for the New Democratic Party, came to campus to meet with students and workers about the conditions and has pledged her support.
 
The campaign on the ground is unfolding quickly, but we’ll do our best to keep this site updated with the latest news.
 
 

 

Food Service Fights in New York: Victories Past and the Fight Ahead

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Wed, 01/20/2010 - 15:03
in
 
Last semester, Hunter College students, faculty and staff united in support of the College’s cafeteria workers. These workers, employees of the College’s food service vendor, AVI Foodsystems, were facing the prospect of losing their free family health benefits after AVI took over the contract from Sodexo. Thanks, not only to the bravery of the workers and their refusal to accept dramatic concessions, but to the support of the Hunter College students and faculty, the workers won a good contract—one that included fully paid health benefits for their families. 
 
Here’s testimony from Owen Hill, one of the students who fought in solidarity with the men and women who serve food to the Hunter College community. You can learn more about student-worker campaigns at UNITE HERE’s student-worker solidarity site. 
 
"The majority of Hunter students are working class students; not only do we come from working class households, but most of us work to make it through school.  So it’s only natural that Unite Here Local 100’s fight to save our cafeteria workers’ raises, pensions, andhealth care struck such a chord with Hunter’s student body.  For, just like the workers that Hunter students so proudly stood in solidarity with, every day our living standards and those of our families are continuing to melt under the withering blows of slashed budgets, greedy employers and a deregulated banking system.  Indeed, the response on our campus was so enormous that AVI Foodsystems, the cafeteria workers’ employer, was forced to back down on the vast majority of their demands before the student/faculty boycott of the cafeteria even began.  The resounding victory of Unite Here Local 100 and the courageous workers over a company that was demanding substantial concessions, points the way forward for students and workers alike, and reminds us all once again that solidarity really is the only way to win."
 
Preach on, Owen! As someone who was involved in the fight that brought students and workers together at Hunter College, I can tell you that Owen’s testimony is no overstatement. 
 
Unfortunately, AVI Foodsystems seems to have not learned their lesson from the student-worker solidarity they had to deal with at Hunter.  At nearby Sarah Lawrence College, where AVI also took over the contract to provide food service, workers and students have formed an alliance to fight for fair compensation for the food service workers at the College. Having won union recognition with Local 100 several months ago, the workers at Sarah Lawrence, along with their student allies, are now fighting for a similar contract to that won by the workers at Hunter College. So far, AVI has been resistant to accepting the reasonable position of the workers and has not been willing to budge on providing the workers with full family health benefits.
 
Check back for updates on Sarah Lawrence as the battle for full health benefits and a fair contract unfolds. 
 
Photo, by Shane Valazquez, is of Owen Hill speaking at October 5th 2009 rally for AVI cafeteria workers outside Hunter College.

Sarah Lawrence Workers Win Neutrality Agreement from AVI

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 09:30
in

Last Friday brought good news, not only for the AVI workers at Hunter College, but for the AVI cafeteria workers at Sarah Lawrence College. AVI signed an agreement with UNITE HERE Local 100 guaranteeing that the cafeteria workers at Sarah Lawrence will be given a fair process deciding whether to form a union, and that their employer, AVI, will “take an approach of strict neutrality in the event the Union attempts to organize the Employees.” 


This huge step in winning real improvements in these workers’ job conditions did not happen in a vacuum, however. Students and workers have been taking action to win this agreement since the school year began, culminating with several actions the day before AVI signed the agreement. On October 22 2009, a group of students placed calls to AVI President Anthony Payiavlas to tell him that students supported the workers’ efforts to unionize. Students and workers also paid a visit to the Sarah Lawrence College Vice President for Finance, John Bernson, to give the Sarah Lawrence the same message that they gave AVI. Here’s a video of the action: 


Syndicate content