Author Archives for Ann Kammerer
On March 1, lunchroom workers at Noble Street Charter School employed by Chartwells ratified their first union contract covering 63 workers. While the city was closing public schools, laying off thousands of workers with union jobs, and expanding charter schools in which lunchroom jobs are non-union, Noble lunchroom workers joined the union last August in an effort to improve standards for lunchroom workers. Noble lunchroom workers join the 3,000 union lunchroom workers at Chicago Public Schools.
The three-year contract provides sick days for every employee, affordable health care which is free for individuals and only $85 a month for families, and wage increases. Additionally, the contract establishes a joint labor-management committee to ensure that everyone’s rights are respected in the workplace and handle operational issues.
Read more on Chicago Local 1’s Web page.
Two UNITE HERE locals are joining forces for contract negotiations with Walt Disney World in Orlando this week.
The contract affects the breadth of duties performed by the resort’s 20,000 UNITE HERE-represented employees, including housekeepers, custodians, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, ride operators, and fast food workers, among others.
Almost one thousand members of UNITE HERE Local 362 and Local 737 crowded into an Orlando-area hotel last week for a rally in preparation for the negotiations. Children of UNITE HERE members greeted participants by saying "We are the future of the union."
This is the first time that the two locals will negotiate together. Disney housekeeper and negotiating committee member Maria Carrillo said of the innovation, "What we are doing is sending a message: Doesn’t matter who you are; when you are together, you can make difference."
See more here:
Disney Employees Rally Before Union Talks Begin: WFTV Channel 9, Orlando, February 24, 2014
Disney World, Cast Member Unions Enter Contract Talks Monday: News 13, Central Florida, March 3, 2014
Workers at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport are pushing for bills in the General Assembly that would increase their wages.
This session, the House and Senate will take up bills to help even the playing field when it comes to airport workers, who gathered in solidarity Monday at Baltimore’s City Hall.
Lawmakers came out in support of legislation creating higher wages for concession workers at the airport, saying many of them are from Baltimore and they deserve more.
"If we want to grow this city we have to take care of the people who live here," said Delegate Cheryl Glenn, D-Baltimore City.
Read more and watch the video here!
Related articles:
Dining workers at California State University, East Bay have won their first contract with UNITE HERE Local 2850! This new contract provides major improvements, including the largest raises the workers have ever won, a reduction in the cost of healthcare, and—for the first time ever—paid sick days and vacation.
"The most important thing for me is that by standing together, my co-workers and I won respect at our job," said seven-year CSU-EB worker and organizing committee member Tatiana Lam. “Also, I’m so proud that more of my co-workers and their families will be able to afford healthcare.”
The workers, employees of Aramark, cook and serve food for CSU-EB’s 13,000 students. Last June, with the support of students, professors, and elected officials, they successfully organized to join UNITE HERE Local 2850.
Las Vegas, NV – Thousands of casino workers are in contract negotiations on the Strip and Downtown in Las Vegas. The union agreements expired on June 1, 2013 and until now, members have been working under an extension of the previous contract. On Thursday, February 20, workers voted to end the extensions and terminate agreements that prevent economic action against employers.
The union recently settled contracts with MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment. Together, those contracts cover approximately 35,000 workers. The remaining unsettled contracts cover close to 10,000. The settled agreements secure benefits and introduce language designed to bring laid-off workers back to their jobs.
With this vote to remove the extensions, negotiations will still continue. Without the extension in place, workers have the right to picket, boycott, and even strike the casino.
Union members from settled properties also voted to support the unsettled properties as they continue in negotiations. Historically, workers have united and stood in solidarity against employers who did not want to honor the Las Vegas standard. Membership has already overwhelmingly voted to raise dues in the event of a strike.
John Walter, a mastercook at Mandalay Bay said, “We are one union. We’ll stand together until every worker has a contract that protects what we have fought for."
Tarshea Smith, an organizer with Local 23 in Washington, D.C., found herself in the middle of a surprise awards show during a city-wide committee meeting in January.
At the sudden ceremony, Reverend Michael Livingston, the national policy director for Interfaith Worker Justice, presented her with the 2014 Workplace Leadership Award. Local 23 members were proud to join with Rev. Livingston and IWJ, long-time allies of UNITE HERE, to celebrate Tarshea’s award.
Tarshea had worked for Georgetown University Dining Services for 20 years before she became one of the first workers on the organizing committee. She helped lead her co-workers to win a union at their university in 2011.
Now an organizer, Tarshea remains guided by the statement, "faith without works is dead." Read the rest of her moving response on IWJ’s blog.
New 5 year contract covers 13,000 Vegas workers at Caesars Entertainment properties
Members of the Culinary and Bartenders Unions voted yesterday to ratify a new 5 year contract with Caesars Entertainment. 97 percent voted in favor of the agreement, which will cover about 13,000 workers in food and beverage, housekeeping, cocktails, and the bell departments.
Elmer Portillo, a food server at Planet Hollywood said, "This is a good contract for members because benefits and jobs are secured. I’m especially thankful to know my healthcare is protected for the next five years, that’s very important."
The negotiating committee, made up of workers from all Caesars properties and varied departments, worked with the company to reach terms that safeguard benefits and will help bring back jobs. Ultimately, both sides were able to craft a mutually beneficial contract. Negotiations began last summer following the previous contract’s expiration on June 1, 2013. The agreement was reached on January 13, 2014.
The economic package, agreed to by both parties, mirrors exactly what has been agreed to by the unions and other employers. Workers will keep their high-quality health insurance. Changes were negotiated for food and beverage operations to allow for flexibility in closed and distressed venues with the goals of reopening shops and bringing workers back to their jobs. New housekeeping language will increase job safety by creating measures designed to deal with hazardous work conditions. Finally, a new program in the cocktails department will create jobs and maximize customer service.
"Through negotiations, Caesars and the Unions have worked together to reach an agreement that gives workers the opportunity to provide for their families. It is clear Caesars Entertainment is committed to the future of Las Vegas. The overwhelming support for the new contract shows members want a secure future with good jobs and strong benefits," said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Secretary Treasurer of Culinary Union Local 226.
"We are very pleased to have reached agreements with the Culinary and Bartenders Unions," said Gary Thompson, spokesman for Caesars Entertainment Corporation. "These agreements benefit all parties, and will enable us to work together to provide expanded job opportunities as Las Vegas continues to recover from the long recession."
On a frigid day January 22, Pentagon food service employees joined other contracted federal workers for a one-day action to bring attention to demands of low-wage workers across the United States.
The crowd withstood the bitter cold to make their case to President Barack Obama, pressing him to issue an executive order requiring all federal contractors to pay a living wage.
Good Jobs Nation convened the rally and pray-in at the Pentagon, along with over 150 workers and solidarity allies like UNITE HERE, Interfaith Worker Justice, and the Franciscan Action Network.
Jobs like those at the Pentagon were once good-paying union jobs, but have been steadily outsourced over the years. As a result, the U.S. government has become the nation’s largest creator of low-wage jobs—-over 2 million to date. Many UNITE HERE members are affected by these same kinds of federal contractors, and they know that being part of the union has made a difference.
UNITE HERE urges President Obama to stand up for federally contracted workers and take executive action to ensure that honest work earns a living wage.
In December, New Haven Public School (NHPS) cafeteria workers—members of UNITE HERE Local 217— voted overwhelmingly to ratify both a new contract and Memorandum of Understanding with the school district. These agreements pave the way toward cooking in schools across the district.
In addition to protecting workers’ union standards, the agreements call for the creation of Cook/Lead worker positions in New Haven’s 44 public schools—an addition of 32 cooks district wide—and establish a pilot program that will bring cooking into an increased number of schools over the term of the contract. Cafeteria workers have worked without a contract since July 2010.
This settlement comes after nearly a year of active campaigning where workers emphasized the district’s overreliance on processed convenience foods and called for a transition to fresh cooking. “I expect my sons to make responsible decisions, and that includes what they choose to put in their bodies,” said Jasanea Hernandez, a member of the negotiating committee and mother of two NHPS students who has worked in school food service for 9 years, “Right now, they cannot make good choices at school because the food we serve in our cafeterias is often highly processed or frozen. We have beautiful cafeterias in nearly all of our schools. It’s time to use them for real cooking!”
Read more at Real Food Real Jobs.
Watch the video here
In the hospitality industry, the recession is over and business is booming. But hospitality is also the largest low-wage industry in Los Angeles, and 40 percent of its workers live in poverty. They have to work two jobs and depend on some form of public assistance just to get by.
As a solution, hundreds of community organizations, small businesses, and residents have said YES to Raise LA. Raise LA proposes that the Los Angeles City Council pass and implement a fifteen-dollar minimum starting wage for hotel workers with annual cost of living adjustments, tip protection, and five paid sick days each year.
Establishing a minimum wage for workers in large hotels will directly address the problem of growing poverty in the city of Los Angeles, and stimulate the local economy by an estimated $71 million per year.
Advocates also say that the full recovery of the city’s lodging industry, hotel revenues at an all-time high, and the scheduled addition of thousands of new hotel rooms to the city offer an important opportunity to invest in higher workplace standards that will improve life for thousands of working families in Los Angeles.
Residents, workers, and businesses from communities across Los Angeles are united in the Raise LA Coalition to ensure that some of the city’s largest and most profitable businesses support the communities where they operate. They know when L.A.’s biggest low wage industry pays better, the city’s neighborhoods do better.
Sign the petition