Local Faith Based Group Among Many Standing With Sodexho Food Service Workers at UCD

By David GreenwaldSeptember 19, 200728 comments
Today at 8:30 am at the Mondavi center, workers, community members, and students will be confronting the Regents of the University of California at their meeting at UC Davis on Wednesday September 19. The UC Davis campus continues to be the only UC campus or medical center with a large scale contracted out workforce. This will be the first time that the Regents have held a meeting at the Davis campus in 16 years.

St. James Gospel Justice committee members in a press release urged:

“Other Davis faith-based social justice groups to join in solidarity with contracted-out food service workers at UCD in their fight to become University employees. On Wednesday September 19, 2007, 8:30 am at the Mondavi Center we will be speaking with the UC Regents to affirm the “inherent dignity” of all campus workers.”

The organization from St. James Catholic Church in Davis, is committed to social justice causes. They cited in their release many unacceptable working conditions faced by the food service workers at UC Davis including under-compensated wages, inadequate health care benefits, no retirement benefits, company’s past broken promises to improve wages and health benefits; and the company’s replacing experienced workers with students and temp-workers to thwart legitimate desires of career workers to join the university and a union for better working conditions.

“These unacceptable working conditions are in conflict with the “inherent dignity” and “climate of justice” espoused within the University’s Principles of Community…

Gospel Justice committee members urge an early expeditious employee conversion of contracted-out food service workers to UC Davis employment. This is the real desire of all the workers and is in fact, the action that will re-establish the ethical credibility of the University’s “Principles of Community”.”

Today’s UC Regents meeting will be the staging ground for new pressure placed on the UC Davis administration, as the only UC Campus that contracts out their food service workers.

Alma Martinez, a working student who was arrested during a protest on May 1st said:

“We are united as workers, I feel close to many of the workers as if they were my parents, and so I am very disappointed that the administration is ignoring us and disrespecting the community it is supposed to serve.”

As we recently reported, UC Davis announced an agreement with Sodexho that would improve wages and reduce healthcare costs for contracted out employees.

The workers have applauded this development as a step in the right direction, however in the end, as we suggested, this offer is not an acceptable solution to workers, students, and the community.

According to a press release from the Sodexho Food Workers and AFSCME Local 3299,

“Workers welcome improvements in their terms and conditions of employment, however, the fundamental disparity continues. If the University can make changes to the terms and conditions of employment for contracted out workers, then it can make the right change by making them direct UC employees and Union members.”

Steven Ordiano, a UC Davis alum who was arrested on May 1st said:

“This just shows how out of touch the administration is with the community, since they know there are problems, but they continue to exclude those who are most affected – the workers.”

The Vanguard will be at the Mondavi Center to cover this event this morning. Stay tuned today for full coverage and updates.

—Doug Paul Davis reporting

Author

  • David Greenwald

    Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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28 comments

  1. The university deal with Sodexho is “unacceptable” because this dispute isn’t actually about wages and conditions. It’s about boosting AFSME’s membership.

  2. The university deal with Sodexho is “unacceptable” because this dispute isn’t actually about wages and conditions. It’s about boosting AFSME’s membership.

  3. The university deal with Sodexho is “unacceptable” because this dispute isn’t actually about wages and conditions. It’s about boosting AFSME’s membership.

  4. The university deal with Sodexho is “unacceptable” because this dispute isn’t actually about wages and conditions. It’s about boosting AFSME’s membership.

  5. Of course it’s about boosting AFSCME’s membership! And what’s wrong with being a union worker? The jobs that Sodexho offers are the fastest growing jobs in California; service jobs. Jobs which pay minimum wage or slightly above and offer no benefits. That means more and more Californians will be without healthcare. Some people say that, “hey if you don’t like the pay or lack of benefits go get another job!”
    The fact is that middle-income jobs that pay well and give benefits are disappearing, while food service jobs as offered by Sodexho are rapidly growing.

    Unions have their bureacratic issues like all large organizations, but without unions workers in these growing low-wage, no benefit jobs have no one to advocate for them.

    AFSCME will benefit financially from the unionizing of the Sodexho workers, but the workers will also beneift financially and politically.

    If you want to read about the growing income inequality in California check out the California Budget Projects’s newest report. http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2007/0708_swc.pdf

  6. Of course it’s about boosting AFSCME’s membership! And what’s wrong with being a union worker? The jobs that Sodexho offers are the fastest growing jobs in California; service jobs. Jobs which pay minimum wage or slightly above and offer no benefits. That means more and more Californians will be without healthcare. Some people say that, “hey if you don’t like the pay or lack of benefits go get another job!”
    The fact is that middle-income jobs that pay well and give benefits are disappearing, while food service jobs as offered by Sodexho are rapidly growing.

    Unions have their bureacratic issues like all large organizations, but without unions workers in these growing low-wage, no benefit jobs have no one to advocate for them.

    AFSCME will benefit financially from the unionizing of the Sodexho workers, but the workers will also beneift financially and politically.

    If you want to read about the growing income inequality in California check out the California Budget Projects’s newest report. http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2007/0708_swc.pdf

  7. Of course it’s about boosting AFSCME’s membership! And what’s wrong with being a union worker? The jobs that Sodexho offers are the fastest growing jobs in California; service jobs. Jobs which pay minimum wage or slightly above and offer no benefits. That means more and more Californians will be without healthcare. Some people say that, “hey if you don’t like the pay or lack of benefits go get another job!”
    The fact is that middle-income jobs that pay well and give benefits are disappearing, while food service jobs as offered by Sodexho are rapidly growing.

    Unions have their bureacratic issues like all large organizations, but without unions workers in these growing low-wage, no benefit jobs have no one to advocate for them.

    AFSCME will benefit financially from the unionizing of the Sodexho workers, but the workers will also beneift financially and politically.

    If you want to read about the growing income inequality in California check out the California Budget Projects’s newest report. http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2007/0708_swc.pdf

  8. Of course it’s about boosting AFSCME’s membership! And what’s wrong with being a union worker? The jobs that Sodexho offers are the fastest growing jobs in California; service jobs. Jobs which pay minimum wage or slightly above and offer no benefits. That means more and more Californians will be without healthcare. Some people say that, “hey if you don’t like the pay or lack of benefits go get another job!”
    The fact is that middle-income jobs that pay well and give benefits are disappearing, while food service jobs as offered by Sodexho are rapidly growing.

    Unions have their bureacratic issues like all large organizations, but without unions workers in these growing low-wage, no benefit jobs have no one to advocate for them.

    AFSCME will benefit financially from the unionizing of the Sodexho workers, but the workers will also beneift financially and politically.

    If you want to read about the growing income inequality in California check out the California Budget Projects’s newest report. http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2007/0708_swc.pdf

  13. “Jobs which pay minimum wage or slightly above and offer no benefits”

    That statement is flat out untrue. They pay above minimum wage, and they do offer benefits. The workers simply want a slightly higher hourly wage, and the far better benefits the university provides.

  14. “Jobs which pay minimum wage or slightly above and offer no benefits”

    That statement is flat out untrue. They pay above minimum wage, and they do offer benefits. The workers simply want a slightly higher hourly wage, and the far better benefits the university provides.

  15. “Jobs which pay minimum wage or slightly above and offer no benefits”

    That statement is flat out untrue. They pay above minimum wage, and they do offer benefits. The workers simply want a slightly higher hourly wage, and the far better benefits the university provides.

  16. “Jobs which pay minimum wage or slightly above and offer no benefits”

    That statement is flat out untrue. They pay above minimum wage, and they do offer benefits. The workers simply want a slightly higher hourly wage, and the far better benefits the university provides.

  17. Actually he said it is slightly about minimum wage which is an accurate statement. And for all practical purposes they do not offer benefits, benefits cost roughly 25% of their meager earnings and do not cover family, see the quote from the more recent article and the two women I interviewed.

  18. Actually he said it is slightly about minimum wage which is an accurate statement. And for all practical purposes they do not offer benefits, benefits cost roughly 25% of their meager earnings and do not cover family, see the quote from the more recent article and the two women I interviewed.

  19. Actually he said it is slightly about minimum wage which is an accurate statement. And for all practical purposes they do not offer benefits, benefits cost roughly 25% of their meager earnings and do not cover family, see the quote from the more recent article and the two women I interviewed.

  20. Actually he said it is slightly about minimum wage which is an accurate statement. And for all practical purposes they do not offer benefits, benefits cost roughly 25% of their meager earnings and do not cover family, see the quote from the more recent article and the two women I interviewed.

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