>>About the Industry<<

Stories 1 to 3 of 134
Next 3 >  Last 3 >>  

• Food fiasco costs inmates, taxpayers May 15, 2008 As the Florida Department of Corrections finally begins to levy some serious fines against prison food contractor Aramark Corp., sick inmates aren't the only ones who need some answers. Taxpayers may well be getting the short end of this deal, and Gov. Charlie Crist needs to keep asking questions.
  
  
• Inmates say prison food made them sick May 13, 2008 TALLAHASSEE — Florida's prison system had already fined its food provider $241,000 this year over staffing and supply issues. And then 277 inmates said they became sick last month after eating chili.
  
  
• Company fined over prison food May 12, 2008 TALLAHASSEE � One of the two companies that feed state prisoners has racked up nearly $250,000 in fines since the beginning of the year for violations including not having enough food and staffing shortages.
  
  

Although we do different kinds of work, many UNITE HERE members and unorganized workers in our industries work for the same huge companies. That’s because there’s a growing trend for hospitals, schools, universities and government agencies to contract out food, laundry and cleaning services to “multi-service” companies.

Three huge companies dominate the rapidly growing multi-service industry: Aramark, which is based in the U.S., Sodexho, a French company, and Compass, which is headquartered in England. Each has hundreds of thousands of employees spread across the globe.

There are already more than 300,000 multi-service workers in the U.S. and Canada, and the number will more than triple in the next 10 years.

UNITE HERE already represents 10% of the workers in the multi-service industry, and we’re well positioned to take on this growing giant. We’ve joined forces with the Service Employees International Union, which represents building service workers. Working together, we’ll organize and raise standards for food, laundry and cleaning service workers at the same time.

We’re organizing laundry workers in Phoenix, Florida and Illinois; food workers at Marine Corps bases on the East and West Coasts, at corporate cafeterias and in school districts in dozens of states; and hospital housekeepers all over the U.S. and Canada.

Our task is to raise standards for workers by taking on industry giants. It’s the only way to win a bright future for ourselves and our children.