Home ›

Contract Fight

Dining Hall Workers Rally at Harvard University

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Thu, 05/19/2011 - 15:04
in

Share

A group of Local 35 members traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 12 to join in a rally with Harvard campus dining workers who are members of UNITE HERE Local 26.

Workers, students and community allies marched through Harvard Yard following a meeting between Harvard University officials and Local 26 as part of the union's contract negotiations. At the rally, the Local 35 delegation had an opportunity to talk about the differences between the Yale and Harvard contracts.

Local 26 President Brian Lang called union members' achievements in New Haven "a source of inspiration." Local 35 President Bob Proto encouraged the Harvard workers to fight for important gains in their next contract, noting that "there's a standard of quality of jobs that Harvard needs to raise up to Yale's."

Click here to read the article in The Harvard Crimson.

CSUMB Food Service Workers Ratify Contract

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Sun, 05/08/2011 - 17:51
in

Share

Union workers at Cal State University Monterey Bay Food Services, members of UNITE HERE Local 483, approved a 5-year labor contract, which calls for $2.05 per hour in additional wages over the life of the agreement.  The union members voted May 5 at CSUMB with 96% approval. The contract covers 60 Sodexo employees, including cooks, cashiers, waiters, bartenders, baristas, utility and food service workers.

"I am very happy that we got fair pay increases, because it’s been so hard to get by in this down economy," said David Palacios, a 3-year CSUMB cook and member of the Local 483 negotiating committee.

The agreement, the first at CSUMB with UNITE HERE Local 483, includes annual wage increases averaging $.40 per hour over the course of the 5-year contract. Food service workers, for example, would see a 24% overall increase in their hourly wages from $8.65 to $10.70. The contract also increases company contributions to the employee health insurance and pension plans, among other benefit improvements.

Contract negotiations at CSUMB Food Services between the Union and Paris-based Sodexo began in August of last year. The new contract starts this past May 1, 2011 with the first wage increases applied retroactively to November 1, 2010.

"The key to winning this was the determination of these CSUMB workers. It’s their first contract with our union, and we are proud to have them on board," commented Local 483 Vice President, Hector Azpilcueta.

Click here to read the press release.

College Cafeteria Workers Unite to Protect Job Standards in Connecticut

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 12/21/2010 - 16:38
in

Share

Eight hundred workers. Nine universities. Three companies.  One union.

Campus dining workers at universities across Connecticut--members of UNITE HERE Local 217--have formed a statewide committee to protect their job standards (standards that are industry stand-outs; you can read more about here).  

The collective bargaining agreement at nine CT universities have either recently expired or are expiring in the coming year.  Rather than standing alone and waging these struggles site by site, the workers are joining together to let their employers know that an injustice to one is an injustice to all.

Read more

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.

Message to the Mayor: “We Have No Intention of Going Backwards”

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Fri, 09/10/2010 - 11:42
in

Share

The mayor of New Haven got a message yesterday. A message that he probably didn’t want to hear. 

The school cafeteria workers in the New Haven school system will not stand by idly as the city attempts to push cuts in their benefits. The cafeteria workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 217, paid a visit to the Mayor John DeStefano Tuesday afternoon to present a petition with the workers' position on the city’s latest proposal.

Here’s a video of Cathy Rubano, a school cook and union shop steward, addressing the Mayor with her concerns over cuts in medical benefits, along with the Mayor’s response:

Read more after the jump

Read more

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.

USC Food Service Workers Ratify New Five-Year Contract with Major Wage and Benefit Gains

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 10:24
in

The Hunter College workers weren’t the only college cafeteria workers who had a big victory in the past several weeks. The University of Southern California food service workers, members of Unite Here Local 11, ratified a new contract on October 20. 
 
The USC employees won wage increases of up to $2.45 per hour and upheld the Local 11 standard of free, full family medical coverage throughout the life of the contract. "With Unite Here we have a long tradition of organizing for strong contracts with big improvements, and this victory is just another example," said Alfredo Valle, a food server at USC for more than 25 years.
 

As was the case at Hunter College, this victory was not given to the workers; rather it was earned through action and a united workforce. In September, 80 food service workers took their demands to USC President Steven Sample—sending the USC administration a message that they were willing to fight for a good contract. Here are a couple brief videos from the USC workers with their reaction to the contract victory: 

 

Hunter College Cafeteria Workers Win Contract from AVI

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 10:28
in

After months of working with no contract and facing the prospect of losing the free family health benefits that they’d been receiving for years, the cafeteria workers at Hunter College finally won a collective bargaining agreement from AVI Foodsystems!  This contract includes free family health benefits, a significant employer contribution to the employee’s retirement plan, and substantial wage increases over the next three years.  As a result of this settlement (pending ratification on Friday) the boycott of AVI at the Hunter College cafeteria, planned for today, has been called off.
 
This victory did not come without a struggle, however. The fact that the workers got to keep their wages, will get a raise the next two years, and will get to keep their health benefits, resulted in large part from the worker and student actions that took place on the Hunter campus.
 
On September 3, 2009, the workers staged a 15 minute work stoppage and rallied for health benefits and pension inside the cafeteria in front of students in the middle of the lunch hour rush (see the video of that action here, pic to the right).  Soon after, the workers and their union, Unite Here Local 100, reached out to the Hunter College students and faculty for support.  After weeks of organizing and with the great support from the Professional Staff Congress, the CUNY faculty union, the Hunter College community staged a rally of around 150 people at the Hunter College main campus on October 5.
 
After an October 8th negotiation failed to result in a fair contract, Hunter students and faculty began organizing a boycott of AVI at the Hunter College cafeteria on October 29 unless AVI agreed to give the workers a fair contract.   Students and faculty collected over 1000 pledges to boycott the cafeteria on the 29th. Then, this past Friday, facing the prospect of an impending boycott, AVI finally agreed to the workers’ reasonable requests.   As a result, the boycott has been canceled. 
 
AVI finally did the right thing at Hunter College.   They also gave the AVI workers at Sarah Lawrence College a fair process for deciding whether to form a union this past Friday. If workers there choose to form a union, AVI will have a chance to do the right thing again, and agree to a fair contract with the workers at Sarah Lawrence. 
 
The student-worker coalition that formed at Hunter College celebrated this victory yesterday afternoon. Come back to this site for an update, with video reactions from the workers and students who fought so hard to win a good contract.   

Video: Hunter College Cafeteria Workers and Students React to Negotiations with AVI

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 14:38
in

As we announced late last week, unless AVI changes it stance on the Hunter College workers’ health benefits and pension, there will be an all-day boycott of all AVI food outlets at Hunter College on October 29th 2009. Here’s why it’s necessary: 
 
The Hunter College cafeteria workers have received free family health benefits for years.   AVI, the food service company that just came into Hunter College, has continually refused to respect this established job standard. At the most recent negotiation between the workers and the company, on October 8th, AVI continued to put forth a proposal that would result in the workers paying a significant, and increasing, sum for their health benefits. 
 
Under AVI’s proposal the workers would go from having free family health benefits last year and in years past to having to pay $141.98 per month by 2011-2012. Here’s a summary of the Hunter College AVI workers’ health care costs per month under AVI's most recent official proposal:1
 
  •  2008-2009--  $0
  •  2009-2010--  $50.46
  •  2010-2011--  $93.53
  •  2011-2012--  $141.98
 
The workers, as you can imagine, were pretty upset upon hearing AVI’s latest official offer.  Here’s an immediate post-negotiations reaction from Debbie, Paula, Lisa and Aisha, four of the cafeteria workers, outside of the UNITE HERE Local 100 office in New York.2
 
 

 
Several students and faculty from Sarah Lawrence College and Hunter College were in attendance at the negotiations as well. Here’s the response from Hunter College student Owen Hill. 
 

 

1.  Figures are based on 4.35 weeks per month; annual contribution rates run on September to September schedule.
2. Several small corrections. When Debbie states that the company is asking them to contribute $12 towards their pension fund, she means towards their health benefit fund, per week, this year; the exact number is $11.60 per week for ’09-’10. Several times Debbie complains that the company offered “the same” proposal. Taken literally this is not accurate, since, though the proposal was similar, there were several key differences.   

Radio Piece: Breaking Down AVI at Hunter College

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 13:40
in


The night of the Hunter College rally UNITE HERE Local 100 lead organizer Gilbert Palacios and Hunter College cashier and Local 100 committee member, Deborah Johnson, appeared on WBAI's Building Bridges.  They talk about the situation with AVI, the moral responsibility of Hunter College, the strength of the union, and they even give a couple shout outs to Stir It Up!  The relevant part begins at 14:48.  

Here's the link:

http://www.archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesObamaIcePoliciesHunterCollegeCafeteriaWorkersProtest

Syndicate content