Dear faculty and staff members at UW - Oshkosh,
The food service workers at the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh have served students and faculty loyally for many years. Soon Sodexho Marriott, a billion-dollar food service company, will take over management of cafeterias. Sodexho has just issued a letter to the food service workers which states:
* Sodexho Marriott refuses to recognize the seniority these workers have accumulated
* Sodexho Marriott says that it will not honor the workers' current union contract
* Sodexho Marriott says that it will not rehire all the employees.
The food service workers who have so many years of service to you and your collegues deserve better.
This does not have to happen on your campus. Please contact Chancellor Wells and encourage him to tell Sodexho that they must rehire all the workers and honor their seniority.
You can reach chancellor Richard H. Wells at 920-424-0200 or by e-mail at wellsr@uwosh.edu
If you write a note please forward me a copy at acalver@hereunion.org
Who are the cafeteria workers at UW - Oshkosh?
* 90% of the workers are women
* On average, workers have been with the University more than 10 years
* The top rate of pay is $10.41 / hour
The food service workers are hard working and dedicated. They just signed a new three year contract, but now the world's largest food service company wants to tear that up. I urge you to speak up now to help the cafeteria workers on your campus who fear they may lose their job or their seniority.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at:
Andrea Calver
Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE)
202-393-4373
acalver@hereunion.org
If you would like to offer a word of encouragement to the food service workers on your campus please call Delores Laatsch, a baker in the Blackhawk cafeteria and a member of HERE Local 414 at 920-235-5660.
Thank you,
Andrea Calver
HERE International Union
____________________
The message received from Andrea Calver of the food service workers union concerns me. I appreciate the service those campus workers have provided me over the years. Some of the women were here when I arrived on campus 17 years ago August. I know that the legal issues involved between one of our vendors and workers contracted to that vendor can be tenuous and murky, but the ethical and human issues for us seem less so.
Specifically, I'm concerned that a new vendor we hire try, unilaterally, to disregard years of service to us by these workers by abolishing their earned seniority.
Second, the top wage rate, ten dollars per hour, is hardly a princely sum. If my math is correct, that works out to about $20m annually. I would not want to try to raise a family on that, even in Oshkosh with its relatively low cost of living.
Finally, this may not become an issue in this current case, but in the past I've been concerned that in some situations other vendors have threatened the full-time employees with our own students who work part time in food service. This puts our students, who are vulnerable because they need this income to supplement other funds so that they can afford to stay in school, in a very unfair position. I hope this conflict will not yield any threats of that sort from our new vendor.
I would like to see our new vendor get off to a good start with us. Treating shabbily our long-time food service workers whom we value is not the way to do that.
Sincerely,
Bill Biglow
Journalism & Mass Comm
_______________________
This communication is in response to inquiries from many faculty, staff and students concerning the food service employees and the new food service contract.
Earlier this year, the University exercised its right to request proposals for a new food service contract. This action was due to a request from the contractor (Chartwells) for significant increases in the remuneration for services without any substantive changes in the basic services that were to be provided.
Following the state's contracting and procurement process, the University has now selected a new food contractor to provide services. Based on the competitive proposal that was submitted, Sodexho Marriott has been awarded the new food contract at UW Oshkosh.
As we now enter into a new relationship with Sodexho Marriott, there are several key considerations to keep in mind:
1. The food service staff and contracted professionals who have provided services on this campus were employees of the prior vendor, not UW Oshkosh.
2. Similarly, the food service staff and professionals to be hired by Sodexho Marriott will not be state employees.
3. As a result of these changes, Sodexho Marriott will hire the food service staff required to fulfill its obligations.
4. We understand that Sodexho Marriott will invite all employees who worked for the former vendor to interview for positions.
5. Many of the food service personnel who worked for the prior vendor were represented by a labor union under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
6. Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the contract terminated once Chartwells was no longer the food service vendor.
7. The individuals to be hired by Sodexho Marriott have the right to organize and the right to seek a new collective bargaining agreement.
8. The closing of Blackhawk Commons for most, if not all of the coming year, the reopening of Reeve Union this fall, and the permanent closing of Elmwood Commons next fall changes the scale of the work force needed to provide service.
While we are not a party to the collective bargaining agreement governing Sodexho Marriott's new workforce, we seek to build a sense of community within UW Oshkosh. On this basis, we are very sensitive to the labor-relations issues that involve parties that provide services to us.
As we have valued strong ties with the former vendor and workers, so also do we value strong ties with the new contractor and their employees. Toward this end, we close by noting the following:
We believe that those who provide services to our campus under the food service contract should be treated fairly and compensated equitably.
We urge all parties to the negotiations to conduct their bargaining in good faith and at the bargaining table.
We will closely monitor these discussions and remain confident that our students will continue to receive high quality food service at competitive rates.
Elliott Garb Assistant Chancellor for Student Affairs UW Oshkosh Oshkosh WI 54901 Garb@uwosh.edu 920 424 4000 FAX 920 424-2405
_________________
On June 13, 2001 you distributed a letter about the University's handling of the changeover of food service contractors from Chartwells to Sodexho-Marriott.
While we appreciate your attempt to clarify the University's position, your letter did not address many of the questions that the workers have been asking since they first learned about Sodexho-Marriott's pending takeover.
Chief among these questions are:
· Will the University do anything to protect workers' seniority rights?
· Will seniority be the basis for determining who will be re-hired?
· Will the University guarantee that the workers and their families will not have a reduction in their health insurance coverage during the transition period?
· Why doesn't Sodexho-Marriott simply honor the terms of the existing union contract rather than unilaterally impose its own "significantly different" terms of employment?
In your letter you wrote that "under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the [union] contract terminated once Chartwells was no longer the food service vendor." While we don't dispute this as a legal matter, it would have been perfectly legal and proper for Sodexho-Marriott to honor the terms of the union contract until such time as they are able to negotiate their own agreement with the union. In fact, that is a courtesy often extended to workers in transitions such as these, particularly when university clients have asked incoming contractors to minimize disruption, confusion and discord.
It would also have been perfectly proper and legal for the University to have required Sodexho-Marriott to honor employees' accrued seniority and also to honor the terms of their collective bargaining agreement with the previous employer. In fact, we are aware of many examples of food service contractor changeovers where universities have required incoming contractors to honor existing terms of employment. We do not know why such a requirement was not made in this instance. However, it is not too late for the university to rectify the situation.
In your letter you indicated that the University decided not to renew Chartwell's management contract because of cost considerations. Are we to infer that the University deliberately replaced Chartwells so a new contractor could reduce labor costs through reductions in wages and benefit levels?
Although we have not yet received a copy of the management contract between the University and Sodexho-Marriott, we assume that it contains, or will contain, the standard contract language that allows the University to terminate the contract without cause with 60 or 90 days notice. In our experience, a university's right to cancel the management contract for any reason is a powerful tool that can be used to persuade contractors to behave properly towards all members of the university community.
Given Sodexho-Marriott's recent food safety problems and its history of contentious labor relations, we certainly hope the University has retained its right to cancel the contract with or without cause. For more information about Sodexho's history, we invite you to explore our website, www.eyeonsodexho.org.
Again we appreciate your efforts to communicate the University's position on these very important matters. We eagerly await your response to the specific questions we have posed.
Sincerely,
Marty Leary Senior Research Analyst Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union
Cc Richard H. Wells Delores Laatsch David L. Bradford
----------------------------------------------
It is our understanding that the following letter was either handed to or sent to all hourly current food service employees last Friday June 15.
June 15, 2000
Dear University of Wisconsin Food Service Employees:
As you: are aware Sodexho Marriott Services has been selected as the new food service provider to the Oshkosh campus effective immediately. We are very excited to be serving the Oshkosh community and look forward to a long relationship with the university
At Sodexho Marriott Services we are committed to providing the very best campus dining services at the hundreds of colleges and universities we serve each day. As a service organization we understand that satisfied customers are key to our success We also know that without satisfied employees, we won't have satisfied customers.
To that end, we invite all Oshkosh campus employees to meet with us and discuss employment opportunities and standard benefits information In hopes for their continued service to the campus. We have tremendous respect for the skills and abilities of the current food service team and we hope that many of you will consider a career with Sodexho Marriott Services . .
We want to assure you that we will comply fully with any applicable leg al obligations concerning your right to be represented by a union.
Employment interviews will begin Monday, June 18, 2001 at River Center (East Entrance "Old University Dining Area")
Monday June 18th Noon - 5PM
Tuesday June 19th 9AM - 5 PM
Wednesday June 20th 9 AM - 5PM
During the next few weeks, our managers will be working hard to ensure the smoothest transition possible as we begin implementing programs and services that we believe will bring new and exciting food service choices to the students, faculty, and administrators at this campus. Despite our best efforts, we know there may be a few bumps in the road ahead, and we ask for your patience and understanding during this transition period as we work toward our common goal of providing the very best service possible to the university, community.
Chancellor Wells,
I am a 1996 Alumni of UW-Oshkosh and currently live in the city of Oshkosh. I have heard about the plight of the University Food Workers as Sodexho Marriott will now be providing food service to campus. It is well know that Sodexho Marriott is "anti-union" using such tactics as: refusing to recognize seniority, not honoring a current collective bargaining agreement, and not rehiring all of the current workers.
I am grateful for the courteous and pleasant service I received over my four years of living on campus and eating in the University dining halls. I believe that all employees who work on the campus, be it Chancellor, professor, food service worker, or custodian, reflect the attitude and spirit of excellence that the University strives for.
If you allow Sodexho Marriott to waltz onto our campus, strip the food service workers of their seniority, destroy the collective bargaining agreement, and allow them to refuse to rehire current workers (a fancy phrase for firing), then the University will suffer. I believe that in addition to the food service personnel, students and staff will suffer from a diminished quality of excellence that was enjoyed by myself and many others.
I do not believe that an institution that strives to nurture minds in the ways of independent thinking and higher learning would be well served by Gestapo tactics of the rich and powerful.
I urge you to do everything in your power to see that Sodexho Marriott retains all current employees, recognizes their seniority, and honors the current collective bargaining agreement. As the leader of my University, I expect that you will champion the years of dedicated service these men and women have invested in all of us throughout the years.
I trust that you will honor those that serve others.
Sincerely,
Mark Habeck
RE: University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Food Service Workers
Just over a week ago, food service workers at the UW - Oshkosh got a letter from the new university food contractor Sodexho Marriott which stated:
* Sodexho Marriott will not recognize the seniority these workers have accumulated
* Sodexho Marriott will not honor the workers' current union contract
* Sodexho Marriott will not rehire all the employees.
Since then hundreds of people have taken the time to e-mail or call the office of Chancellor Wells and encourage him to tell Sodexho that they must rehire all the workers and honor their seniority.
Our efforts are having an impact! As a result of the public outrage, Sodexho has moved up the period for employee interviews resulting in less waiting time and uncertainty for the current employees.
However, we will still have to keep up the fight to make sure that all current employees are able to keep their jobs and their senority.
And UW-Oshkosh has widely distributed it's position on the issue. Enclosed in this e-mail is our union's response to the UW-Oshkosh administration.
If you have already sent a message to Chancellor Wells - THANK YOU! If not, it's not too late to encourage UW - Oshkosh to do the right thing and tell Sodexho to hire all the workers and honor their senority!
You can reach chancellor Richard H. Wells at 920-424-0200 or by e-mail at wellsr@uwosh.edu
If you write a note please forward me a copy at acalver@hereunion.org
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at:
Andrea Calver
Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE)
202-393-4373
acalver@hereunion.org
-------------------------------
[Original UW-Oshkosh letter to all employees is copied at the end of this e-mail] Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union 1219 28th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20007 June 21, 2001 Elliott Garb Assistant Chancellor for Student Affairs University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Oshkosh WI 54901
E-mail from Elliott Garb, Assistant Chancellor of Student Affairs,
stating UW Oshkosh's position.
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 13:08:31 -0500 To: Allemployees@list.uwosh.edu From: Elliott Garb <garb@uwosh.edu> Subject: New Food Service Contract Cc: Rep.underheim@legis.state.wi.us, Carol.Roessler@legis.state.wi.us Bcc: KBoatright@uwsa.edu,rbackus@sodexhomarriott.com, Paulsonsoms@aol.com, garb@vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu
This communication is in response to inquiries from many faculty, staff and students concerning the food service employees and the new food service contract.
Earlier this year, the University exercised its right to request proposals for a new food service contract. This action was due to a request from the contractor (Chartwells) for significant increases in the remuneration for services without any substantive changes in the basic services that were to be provided.
Following the state's contracting and procurement process, the University has now selected a new food contractor to provide services. Based on the competitive proposal that was submitted, Sodexho Marriott has been awarded the new food contract at UW Oshkosh.
As we now enter into a new relationship with Sodexho Marriott, there are several key considerations to keep in mind:
1. The food service staff and contracted professionals who have provided services on this campus were employees of the prior vendor, not UW Oshkosh.
2. Similarly, the food service staff and professionals to be hired by Sodexho Marriott will not be state employees.
3. As a result of these changes, Sodexho Marriott will hire the food service staff required to fulfill its obligations.
4. We understand that Sodexho Marriott will invite all employees who worked for the former vendor to interview for positions.
5. Many of the food service personnel who worked for the prior vendor were represented by a labor union under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
6. Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the contract terminated once Chartwells was no longer the food service vendor.
7. The individuals to be hired by Sodexho Marriott have the right to organize and the right to seek a new collective bargaining agreement.
8. The closing of Blackhawk Commons for most, if not all of the coming year, the reopening of Reeve Union this fall, and the permanent closing of Elmwood Commons next fall changes the scale of the work force needed to provide service.
While we are not a party to the collective bargaining agreement governing Sodexho Marriott's new workforce, we seek to build a sense of community within UW Oshkosh. On this basis, we are very sensitive to the labor-relations issues that involve parties that provide services to us.
As we have valued strong ties with the former vendor and workers, so also do we value strong ties with the new contractor and their employees. Toward this end, we close by noting the following:
* We believe that those who provide services to our campus under the food service contract should be treated fairly and compensated equitably.
* We urge all parties to the negotiations to conduct their bargaining in good faith and at the bargaining table.
* We will closely monitor these discussions and remain confident that our students will continue to receive high quality food service at competitive rates.
Elliott Garb Assistant Chancellor for Student Affairs UW Oshkosh Oshkosh WI 54901 Garb@uwosh.edu 920 424 4000 FAX 920 424-2405 _________________________________________________________________________