Author Archives for Ann Kammerer
School lunch was all over the national news this week and the lunchroom workers from UNITE HERE Local 1 in Chicago were right in the middle of it. After doing hundreds of surveys about school food with members, UNITE HERE Local 1 held a rally on January 24 to release a report, “Feeding Chicago’s Kids the Food They Deserve: The Lunch Ladies’ View of Meals at Chicago Public Schools.” The report’s frontline take on the food served to our kids, and the workers’ suggestions for improvement, caught the eye of popular online media, mainstream Chicago press, and renowned school food bloggers, and even garnered a mention in CNN. As the Chicago Tribune summarized, the workers “want to offer their firsthand knowledge and cooking skills to make the healthy food appealing to kids, but right now their hands are tied.”
The healthy food effort at Chicago Public Schools is also a part of UNITE HERE’s national sustainable food program, Real Food Real Jobs.
Download the report.
Press coverage:
On Wednesday, January 18, the Ontario Labour Relations Board supervised a vote at the Park Hyatt Toronto, and the workers voted 104 to 17 to join UNITE HERE. This bargaining unit includes approximately 140 workers. The committee and the members stayed very strong throughout the campaign, which included an aggressive and very public campaign against UNITE HERE Local 75, including daily department meetings, letters couriered to members’ homes, constant one-on-one campaigning in all departments, and a big-screen TV in the staff cafeteria broadcasting anti-Local 75 messages 24/7. UNITE HERE has filed an unfair labour practice complaint that includes numerous allegations of unlawful conduct by the company.
Today, housekeepers’ union UNITE HERE is asking the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to consider a new proposal to prevent disabling injuries in hotel room cleaners and save hotels money on workers compensation claims.
The proposed safety standard complements Senate Bill 432, a two-year bill that when introduced last year stirred considerable debate over why hotels too often fail to provide housekeepers with mops to clean floors and fitted sheets to make beds – basic tools nearly all Americans use in their homes.
It’s widely acknowledged by hotel companies and academic researchers that housekeeping can be dangerous work. Lifting mattresses that can weigh more than 100 pounds, pushing heavy carts across carpeted hallways, bending up and down to clean floors and make beds, and climbing to clean high surfaces all take a physical toll. Research has shown housekeepers suffer the highest injury rate among all classifications of hotel employees, and housekeepers are more likely to suffer musculoskeletal disorders than all other hotel employees.
Yet unlike other hazardous industries, there are no standards to address safety problems in the hotel industry. The proposed guideline lays out a simple plan for employers to follow using solutions already recommended by OSHA agencies in California and elsewhere.
As the hotel industry has modernized, the job has gotten more and more physically demanding for housekeepers,” said Pamela Vossenas, workplace safety and health expert for UNITE HERE. “In hotels where OSHA has investigated housekeeper injuries, inspectors have recommended simple solutions such as the use of fitted sheets and motorized linen carts to prevent injuries. Cal-OSHA cannot inspect every California hotel, so this Standard creates a systematic safety blueprint for hotels to follow to prevent housekeeping-specific injuries."
Read more here…
Following majority votes at kitchens around the country, UNITE HERE members who work at LSG Sky Chefs have approved a new collective bargaining agreement that covers more than 7,000 in-flight catering workers. The new contract terms will be in effect until 2015.
The agreement comes at the successful conclusion of federally-mediated negotiations and makes significant improvements to wages, the cost of health care, and to job security language.
"It took a lot of time and a lot of effort to get to this point but I feel very proud of what we won in this contract," says Antonio Reyes, a member of the bargaining committee from the kitchen in Dallas, Texas, who has worked at Sky Chefs for 16 years. "We reached an agreement that works for us and for Sky Chefs, and we will remain united across the country to make sure that we are even stronger for the next agreement."
After one-day strike in December, struggling cooks, janitors and dishwashers win fair contract
Workers from the California Club, one of downtown LA’s oldest private clubs, have won wage increases and higher contributions to workers’ pension and healthcare funds in a new contract settled just before the end of the year.
The settlement comes just weeks after the workers walked off the job in a one-day strike on Dec. 15 protesting management’s attempts to freeze wages for six months. As corporate profits soar and the economy rebounds for the rich, workers called for moderate wage increases to keep up with the cost of living.
Workers won a three-year contract that will keep them on par with workers at the Jonathan Club, a similar venue, and downtown hotels.
The California Club is a membership-based organization made up of LA’s elite. Its website claims members are leaders in business, industry and government.
"We are very thankful for the great deal we settled at the California Club," said Felipe Sanchez, a California Club cook of 15 years. "In the current economy, too many working people like me are being made to suffer. I’m proud that we stood up for what we deserved. We all feel like winners."
The California Club workers’ contract will run through 2014.
More than 1,000 workers at the new Resorts World New York City casino at Aqueduct Racetrack have chosen UNITE HERE Local 6/Hotel Trades Council as their union.
As the largest bargaining unit organized by Local 6 in the modern era, this victory continues UNITE HERE’s coalition work with other unions in gaming and represents an important step in ensuring that New York gaming workers receive strong union representation. Resorts World workers join casino workers at the Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga race tracks in New York as members of UNITE HERE Local 6.
Hundreds of Aramark’s Citizens Bank Park employees, and their supporters from New York to Baltimore, rallied in support of better wages and access to healthcare benefits following the 2012 NHL Winter Classic on January 2. Since voting down the company’s latest contract offer in September, beer vendors, concessions stand attendants, and the other stadium employees covered have been publicly pushing Aramark to put forward a contract that includes better wages, stable health benefits and more work opportunities.
"It’s important to keep fighting for good wages and benefits, even in the off-season," said Briheem Douglas, a concessions worker. "This is not a game to us. Our families depend on what we earn at the ballpark to survive.
"Having access to healthcare is extremely important for me," said Brandon Simmons, a concessions worker at Citizens Bank Park. "A sudden medical emergency can strike anyone at any time. It happened to me this year. Having access to basic healthcare can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency situation."
LOS ANGELES – Workers from the California Club, one of downtown LA’s oldest private clubs, walked off the job today, Thursday, Dec. 15, in a one-day strike. As corporate profits soar and the economy rebounds for the rich, workers are striking in protest of management’s demand to freeze wages for six months.
Workers are asking for small wage increases over the next three years to keep up with the cost of living and stay on par with the Jonathan Club, a similar venue. Currently California Club dishwashers and housekeepers make less than $29,000 a year.
The California Club is a membership-based organization made up of LA’s elite. It’s website claims members are leaders in business, industry and government.
"This is just another example of the rich squeezing the poor," said Felipe Sanchez, a California Club cook of 15 years. "Last year the Club renovated its second floor, knocking down walls and replacing carpet. The rich can afford to invest in fine art and expensive rugs, but not us."
The Club also boasts "fine antiques, handcrafted furniture and rich imported fabrics bespeak the substance, grace and elegance of the Clubhouse."
In recent years workers have been sympathetic to the Club’s claims that a sour economy had left the urban country club with less cash on hand. In 2009, workers agreed to a wage freeze and in 2010 made changes to their healthcare benefits to contain costs.
Now workers say it’s time to for California Club’s 1 percent to recognize the workers’ sacrifice.
"We’re not asking for much," said Gustavo Sanchez, a cook of 24 years. "All over the news, corporate profits are higher than ever, but working people are expected to keep suffering. We have families to feed. We demand better."
The California Club workers’ union contract expired in September 2011.
ANAHEIM, CALIF. – December 7, 2011 — By an overwhelming majority, UNITE HERE Local 11 members at the Disneyland Resort ratified a new, mutually beneficial, five-year collective bargaining agreement that was supported by both union leadership and the company. The contract will be in effect through January 2017, and applies to the union’s 2,100 workers at the Resort’s three hotels and the Central Bakery.
The new contract includes wage increases, a choice of affordable healthcare for benefits-eligible workers and their families, and decreased workloads for housekeepers. The new contract also provides job security and seniority protection for both full-time and part-time workers.
"We’re extremely pleased that the Disneyland Resort hotel cast members represented by UNITE HERE Local 11 have overwhelmingly supported this fair and comprehensive agreement," said Tony Bruno, vice president of Disneyland Resort Hotels and Downtown Disney. "We know the efforts of these cast members, along with more than 20,000 others throughout the resort, are responsible for making lasting memories for our guests every day."
As part of the new agreement, workers will have a choice to remain in the union healthcare plan, with contributions of about $7-$10 per week, or transition to one of the Disney benefits plans and be eligible for a bonus.
"We are very excited to have settled on an agreement that ensures affordable family healthcare and protections for full-time jobs – the two issues most important to me and many of my co-workers," said Tom Bray, a Disneyland Hotel bellman.
Under the terms that were ratified by the cast members, the Resort’s Central Bakery becomes part of this one unified agreement with Local 11. Central Bakery cast members, though part of Local 11, had been covered under a separate bargaining agreement. The Bakery cast members also will have choice in their healthcare plans during next year’s open enrollment.
Most Local 11 cast members already were provided with wage increases. Under the new agreement, the Central Bakery cast now will receive a $.40 per hour increase retroactive to June 2011.
"We are very happy UNITE HERE Local 11 members at the Disneyland Resort have the protection of a contract again," said Tom Walsh, President of UNITE HERE Local 11. "It was a long road, but in the end both sides compromised to reach a fair deal."
Read the press coverage below:
POMONA – Unprovoked by any federal agency, Pomona College fired today 16 dining hall workers who did not re-verify their eligibility to work. Several of those terminated had worked at Pomona College for 10 to 20 years.
In protest, about 200 students, workers, alumni and community members descended on Frary Dining Hall, demanding the right to come work. When managers refused to let workers work, supporters took the dispute outside the Pomona College President David Oxtoby’s office and picketed in the street.
"We’re here to work," said Christian Torres, a seven-year Pomona College cook. "What Pomona College has done is wrong and unjust, and we will keep fighting to come back to work."
The administration’s demand for documentation and subsequent firing of immigrant workers comes as the workers continue efforts to organize a union on a campus.
The demand for documentation was not brought on by a federal agency. Instead, Pomona launched the internal audit itself. Pomona administrators said they properly verify documents at the time of hiring, but claimed some workers had "discrepancies" and wanted documents again.
The unprovoked scrutiny is an about face for the liberal college. College President David Oxtoby used his 2010 commencement speech to endorse the DREAM Act, noting, "this country benefits from the ideas, the skills, and the hard work of those who do or do not bear proper documents; we need to recognize that fact and move toward comprehensive immigration reform."
Dozens of students and alumni also joined the protest to condemn Pomona College’s actions. "I put all my other responsibility aside this morning to be at the protest today because I’m so enraged by what my alma mater has done to its workers," said Scott Ratigan, Pomona College ’90. "This is low."
Read the press coverage below:
- Pomona College Protest: Terminated Undocumented Workers Chant ‘We’re Here And We’re Not Leaving’, 12/2/2011, Huffington Post
- 15 arrested at Pomona College dining hall workers protest, 12/2/2011, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
- Workers Fired, Protesters Arrested at Pomona College, 12/2/2011, Claremont Forum
- 15 arrested in protest of Pomona Dining Hall Firings, 12/2/2011, Claremont Portside
- Pomona College Workers Rally After Document Check, 11/16/2011, LA Times