For the first time in five years, Brandeis workers will soon begin contract negotiations with Sodexo, aiming to gain higher pay and better health coverage. This is the first time contract negotiations have taken place since Sodexo took Aramark’s place at the University. The current contracts are set to expire on June 30. 

It is vital for the student body to support dining workers in contract negotiations with Sodexo, as they are hard-working individuals who contribute to the wider campus community, often without recognition or praise. Their dedication to this University is remarkable. We urge Sodexo to, at least, maintain current pay rates and healthcare coverage — a plan well-liked by Sodexo workers — and come to the table ready for a fair and respectful negotiation.

In the next academic year, Sodexo will see a significant rise in students paying for a meal plan, as the University will be mandating all on-campus student purchase a meal plan for the first time. For example, if a student is a senior living in Ridgewood, in the next academic year, that student will be required to be on a meal plan. Moreover, as the University’s undergraduate population has steadily grown, there are now more sources of revenue for the University’s dining provider than ever before, and the University has not indicated that meal plan costs will be cut across the board in the coming years. In the face of these massive revenue increases for Sodexo, it is unjustifiable for the company to reduce pay and benefits for workers at the University. There is simply no excuse for significant cost-cutting on Sodexo’s part, particularly when this kind of shortsighted policy would impact some of the University’s hardest-working members. 

In an interview with the Justice, Mike Cutler, a cook for the University for nine years and a speaker for UNITE HERE Local 26,  stated: “We’re with these kids four years, you get to know a lot of the kids, they want to see you earn a fair wage and a fair living. We’ve got a lot of students now backing us. It’s good to have support.” Milagros Santana, a cashier for ten years expressed, “We become like a family. We’re here with them eight hours.” Cutler added, “Probably more than I am home.” 

As dining workers hope to improve upon or at least maintain healthcare and retirement plans, some fear that, given Sodexo’s  poor reputation, benefits such as vacation and sick days will be slashed. Human Rights Watch stated that the organization “launched aggressive campaigns against some of its U.S. employees’ rights to form unions and bargain collectively.” With the recent rise in minimum wage to $15.05 per hour for full-time University employees alone and the continued advocacy of student groups like Brandeis Labor Coalition, the University clearly has a strong commitment to workers’ rights.  Sodexo should show the same good faith for its contracted employees at the University. 

If dining workers are not given a fair renewed contract, some may leave the University and Sodexo, and those who remain will gain the rights to strike and picket. A five year contract allows for a level of financial security for workers, and the right to strike should not be underestimated at Brandeis, due to the high probability of vocal community support and the assured anger of poor college kids looking to eat. 

Hopefully, contract negotiations between dining employees and Sodexo will begin sooner than later.  

Dining employees provide a vital service for the University, and if Sodexo takes a misstep, it will be yet another example of Sodexo’s failure to respect workers’ rights. This board strongly believes that we must take care of our campus family so we can ensure that its members can provide for their own families.