Dining Services workers will resume negotiations with Aramark at an Oct. 5 negotiations session, according to the organizing director of the union, Dana Simon, in an interview with the Justice.

Organizers of Unite HERE Local 26—the union that represents Dining Services workers at Brandeis—held a meeting last Tuesday at which workers and union organizers emphasized the importance of returning to negotiations with Aramark and of receiving a contract that includes wage increases without cuts to the workers' health care plans.

About 50 people, including approximately 10 students, attended the meeting, which took place last Tuesday in the Usdan Boulevard.

Last week, Simon said in an interview with the Justice that negotiations between Aramark and the union had stalled over a disagreement over the health care plans.

Last May, Aramark and Dining Services workers began formal negotiations to establish a new 5-year contract before the old one expired on June 30. According to Simon, Dining Services workers have since continued to operate under the terms of the old contract and said that the old contract "will continue to cover the workers until a new one is negotiated."

Director of Dining Services Aaron Bennos wrote in an email to the Justice last week that he could not "comment on specifics regarding contract negotiations, as they are confidential." Bennos, an Aramark representative, further wrote, "We [the Aramark representatives] continue to bargain in good faith and hope to reach a new agreement soon."

At the meeting on Tuesday, Simon said, "Aramark is a profitable company. … They're very profitable. … Food services workers are hard workers, and you guys love the students and take care of the students, and you're dedicated to the students. The Food services workers deserve to be treated decently. Food services workers do not deserve to have their health insurance cut."

Simon continued by saying that Aramark representatives needed to return to the bargaining table, saying, "In the next couple of days, we'll have to see what's going on because, a week or two from now, … either we're scheduling a meeting to ratify the contract, or we're going to take some action. Today we don't know."

When asked after the meeting whether he had a specific date in mind for taking action, Simon said no.

Simon paused at the meeting to recognize the students present, including Alana Pellerito '13, a representative from the Brandeis Labor Coalition.

Simon concluded the meeting by asking the assembled workers, "Are you ready to fight?"

Julie Richards, the shop steward of the union and a cashier at Usdan, said in an interview with the Justice after the meeting that members of the bargaining committee came to Brandeis to negotiate over the summer without pay. "People come in on their own time and try to get this, and we thought it was going to be fine, and all of a sudden it just stopped, and we're looking for our insurance, and a raise, which everybody needs. We want to work hard, but we want a fair shake too," she said.

Marie Martin, another member of the bargaining committee who also works at Usdan, said after the meeting, "Our insurance is very important. Without a raise, without insurance, where are you going?"

Both Martin and Richards emphasized the importance of the union members working together during the negotiation process.

Richards spoke during the meeting as well, saying to the workers present, "I think it's pretty rotten that we are just waiting to get a contract. … We'd like to move on and … be happy with what we have and do the work that we always do. We always work hard, and we love it here. We like the kids. … I hope it'll work out."

—Hillel Buechler contributed reporting.