Updated 9/16/11

Norris University Center director Rick Thomas released a statement Friday morning about the Sodexo workers’ newly ratified contract. Thomas said the University is ‘pleased’ with the terms, and noted they will most help those ‘at the lower levels of the pay scale.’

He also acknowledged the University had spoken with Sodexo staff during the negotiation process.

The full text of the statement is below:

Updated 9/15/11

Subcontracted food service workers at Northwestern’s dining halls and Norris University Center food court voted Thursday to ratify a revamped contract that includes reduced and free health care and a minimum $10 wage, according to Unite Here Local Union 1 and Northwestern Living Wage Campaign representatives.

“There is a lot of excitement, a lot of exhilaration in there,” said Rafael Marquez, who is the lead cook at 1835 Hinman dining hall. “It’s been a long time coming for all these workers fighting for this … it was something that was desperately needed.”

Workers voted by secret ballot in a closed room at Sargent dining hall, debating the merits of a contract that includes 32 changes but no immediate ‘living wage’ for the 219 workers it will affect. Some members of the LWC were also present during the three voting sessions to show support for workers, campaign chairman Kellyn Lewis said.

Representatives from the union, which helped negotiate the contract with Sodexo, the company through which the University hires its food service workers, explained the changes to workers and fielded questions at the three voting shifts. The final vote, which totaled 118-18 in favor of the new contract, was announced as students filed into the dining hall for dinner.

Some workers either abstained from voting or were not offered breaks long enough to come to Sargent and vote, Lewis said.

Contract terms

Union leader Daniel Abraham said provisions in the contract that incrementally increase wages over the span of the four-year contract eventually will translate into a living wage for all workers. The final version of the contract was not yet available, and Abraham and Lewis did not provide The Daily the preliminary version.

Lewis said provisions include a guaranteed $10 hourly wage for all workers making less than that amount already, and an 80 cents raise applied to all other workers’ hourly wages. The health-care benefits will significantly reduce the cost of the plan for those 120 workers already paying for plan and extend a free plan to workers currently without coverage, Lewis said.

Lewis, along with a few other members of the campaign, including its former director, worked with the union on various projects this summer.

“To say this is a ‘good contract’ is an understatement,” said Abraham, who has been working on the contract since January. “But it only happened because it had support; it really took the effort of the workers, and the students who have supported them all along.”

‘The best contract we could come up with’

While sporadic applause erupted from the closed room throughout the final voting session, not all workers were impressed with the contract. Tiffany Wallace, who works at the Foster Walker dining hall, abstained from voting and walked out of the meeting shaking her head.

“I’m angry,” Wallace said. “I’m not voting because it’s not going to do anything for me. They (LWC) were working for people who make the least, like dishwashers. The people making the least are going to get the biggest raise.”

She said the contract also focuses too heavily on protecting immigrant workers.

A more controversial part of the package are provisions Lewis said were included to protect immigrant workers facing charges of no-match social security numbers, or being undocumented workers. Lewis said three provisions in the contract offer workers greater protection from premature action on behalf of the employer, and more time to produce proper documentation.

Lewis said more debate centered around whether money put toward health care plans should have instead been diverted to increase hourly wages.

“People are always going to debate this because it’s important.” Marquez said. “It’s not easy to make everyone happy, but this was the best contract we could come up with.”

Abraham and Lewis said the LWC was closely involved with consulting and supporting the workers throughout the negotiation process, which took place over six meetings between Sodexo representatives and union members working with a ‘negotiation committee’ comprised of nine workers, including Maruquez.

“I just want to thank the students,” Marquez said. “This would be impossible without them.”

‘Strong ties’

Abraham noted the presence of some LWC members during the voting process was ‘unusual’ in his more than two decades working for the union, but indicative of the ‘strong ties’ between the students and workers.

Some LWC members stood outside the closed meeting, handing workers red union lunchboxes, which were donated by an Allison Hall cook.

Lewis said the LWC prides itself on its relationships with the workers.

“You see me walking around, talking with them (the workers),” Lewis said. “They know me. We’re friends and I have personal relationships with all of them. This is about them, but I’m always here to support them as is the campaign.”

An ‘evolving’ campaign

The LWC formed in 2009 with the specific intent to get subcontracted workers on campus a living wage, which it calculated to be $13.23. But Lewis said the goals have evolved since then to include provisions such as better benefits. During that ‘evolution’ the LWC has employed various tactics, ranging from pointed demonstrations outside University President Morton Schapiro’s office to a public conference in April that featured noted author Barbara Ehrenreich.

“We started out specifically focused on a number but we’ve changed our approach and now the priority is still that number but also benefits,” Lewis said. “We changed our approach since we started two years ago and now we see them as complementing each other.”

The campaign’s relationship with Schapiro and other members of the administration has been strained at times. Schapiro, a noted labor economist, has questioned the viability of a ‘living wage,’ as calculated by the LWC. But Schapiro attended the April conference and said in a May interview with The Daily he was ‘impressed’ by the speakers, and was open to trying to improve the workers’ experience on campus.

Still, Lewis said he was not convinced Schapiro was supportive of the LWC.

“Just because something is happening now does not mean he (Schapiro) has made himself more available to us,” Lewis said. “There are instances where he has flat-out refused to meet with us … this (contract) is largely due to the workers.”

As for the future of the LWC, he said he it will continue to advocate for worker’s rights on campus.

Abraham said a version of the new contract should become available in the next week.

Check back for an updated story tomorrow.