Author Archives for Ann Kammerer
The dining hall workers had been at Pomona College for years, some even decades. For a few, it was the only job they held since moving to United States.
Then late last year, administrators at the college delivered letters to dozens of the longtime employees asking them to show proof of legal residency, saying that an internal review had turned up problems in their files.
Seventeen workers could not produce documents showing that they were legally able to work in the United States. So on Dec. 2, they lost their jobs….
For the last two years, many of the dining hall workers had been organizing to form a union, but the efforts stalled amid negotiations with the administration. Many on campus believe that the administration began looking into the employees’ work authorization as a way to thwart the union effort, an accusation the college president, David Oxtoby, has repeatedly denied. But that has done little to quell questions and anger among the fired workers and many who support their efforts to unionize.
Read the rest of the New York Times article.
Campus dining workers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis became the first cafeteria workers in Indianapolis with a union contract, after voting to ratify the agreement reached between Chartwells and the IUPUI Union Negotiating Committee.
The contract is a huge step forward for workers at the state university located in downtown Indianapolis. The contract, which runs through October 2015, guarantees wage increases, decreased costs in health insurance, protections for immigrant workers, a grievance procedure, ‘just cause’ language and respect for seniority.
Liz Fisher, a long-term lead cashier and negotiating committee member, said: "There were so many workers that don’t get what they deserve. For the first time, we will have guaranteed raises for the life of our contract. Also, we know that the cost of health insurance is going down every year."
IUPUI dining workers won union recognition in Fall 2011.
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.