Home ›

Sarah Lawrence College

Building Community at Sarah Lawrence College

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Thu, 12/09/2010 - 12:45
in

Share

If this crew got together last year, chances are they were chanting in the cafeteria, marching together across campus or paying a surprise visit to a College administrator.  This time the main items on the agenda for the students and campus dining workers of Sarah Lawrence College were: relax, eat and watch a film.

During the 2009-2010 school year the campus dining workers at Sarah Lawrence College won two huge victories, both with tremendous support from the students of SLC.  After a fall semester that saw the workers win union recognition with UNITE HERE Local 100, the workers and students spent almost an entire school year fighting successfully for a fair contract, one that ended up including full family health benefits for only $2 per week.

The workers' struggle, which was embraced whole-heartedly by the SLC students and faculty, had the secondary effect of building a stronger, more inclusive campus community.  Last week, Sarah Lawrence College Worker Justice organized a social event and movie screening to build upon that community and make it stronger.   Workers and students gathered together to catch-up with each other and to reflect on the events of last year by watching student Monica Wise's documentary on the struggle.  

At the end of the event we had a chance to talk to several of the the event's attendees and leaders of last year's campaign.

Easton Smith, a student, reflects on what it's meant to him to get to know the dining workers:

Martin Valdez, a cafeteria worker, states how important the students were (and are) in their struggle:

Emma McCumber, talks about what her relationship with the workers has meant to her:

 

Video of Sarah Lawrence Work Stoppage

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 03/02/2010 - 12:19
in

The AVI campus food service workers--fighting for a just contract with full family health benefits and a pension plan--engage in a lunch-hour work stoppage, and the students get their back....in large numbers.  

The video was shot and edited by Monica Wise,a member of Sarah Lawrence College Worker Justice, who, in addition to fighting alongside the workers for union representation and a fair contract, is filming a documentary on the workers' struggle.  Enjoy the action:

Work Stoppage! Students and Workers Take Action at Sarah Lawrence

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Thu, 02/25/2010 - 16:00
in


As I’ve mentioned before, the food service workers at Sarah Lawrence College—employees of AVI Foodsystems—are fighting for a contract with full family health benefits, decent wages, a secure retirement plan, and the assurance that they’ll receive respect on the job. Yesterday the workers at the two main food service locations, The Pub and Bates, stopped working in the middle of the lunch hour to protest the current state of affairs, and to demand a fair contract from AVI. 


 
And the workers were not alone! SLC Worker Justice, a student organization devoted to supporting campus workers, organized the students and faculty to be a part of the workers’ action. As the work stoppage began, these students chanted with the workers, spoke out in support of the workers and encouraged other students to join the group as we marched across campus. As the group moved from The Pub to Bates to the Student Life Committee meeting, the group grew from around 10 students to over 100. Almost every patron in the entire cafeteria joined the workers in chants demanding a fair contract and health insurance.
 
I’ll post video footage of the action in the coming days—there was great worker and student testimony that I’d like to share with the Stir It Up community. For now, I’d just like to thank the students who have been so involved and supportive in the workers’ struggle! SLC Worker Justice had been passing out the above leaflet at almost every meal for the past week-and-a-half, educating the rest of the campus about the workers situation and mobilizing the entire community to support the workers when the time came. Yesterday it came…and if AVI doesn’t change their tune in negotiation, it will come again.  

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.

Food Service Workers at Sarah Lawrence College Win Union Recognition!

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 12:52
in

Last Friday the food service workers at Sarah Lawrence College were officially recognized as UNITE HERE Local 100 members. 75% of the workers, employees of AVI Foodsystems, signed a union authorization card. This is a great victory for the workers who, along with food service workers at Hunter College and the University of Southern California, had to struggle to get it.  Next up for the Sarah Lawrence workers…contract negotiations. We’ll keep you up-to-date as that unfolds, and we’ll post video of worker and student reaction to the initial Sarah Lawrence victory soon.   

In the meantime, here's a repost of the student-worker delegation at Sarah Lawrence that preceded the workers winning a neuatrality agreement from AVI by one day:  

 

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: 


VIDEO: Sarah Lawrence Students and Workers Delegate AVI Manager

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 18:03
in
 
 
 

We’ve been posting a lot about the situation at Hunter College where the unionized UNITE HERE Local 100 members are fighting to maintain their health benefits and pension from AVI Foodsystems, the company that operates the cafeteria.   Meanwhile, less than 20 miles away, AVI is denying the food service workers at Sarah Lawrence College neutrality and a fair process for deciding whether to form a union.

On September 30th a group of about 12 workers and 5 students paid a surprise visit to their AVI manager to let him know that the workers and students support the workers right to organize without company intimidation.


In the video the workers, first in English and then in Spanish state their position on unionizing to the manager.  The students back up the workers by stating that they will do whatever the workers ask of them in support.   The manager’s response?  Instead of addressing the substance of the request he goes on for almost 30 seconds about an ‘open-door policy.’  

The video was shot by Easton Smith, a student at Sarah Lawrence College.  Contact us if you have any videos or stories of food service related actions from your school.

Syndicate content