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organizing in new orleans
Seventy cafeteria workers at the University of New Orleans are in a fierce battle to win the right to organize into a union. Local 166 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union have been organizing the workers for the past year. The workers are employees of Aramark, a subcontractor that runs the university's food services.
Management has refused to hold an election and intimidated workers for asserting their right to organize. Workers are demanding that they be allowed to organize into a union so that they can bargain for higher wages and benefits. Currently, workers earn $5.21-$5.57 per hour with no benefits.
The workers have not received a raise since last year, when management raised wages a measly 7¢-21¢ per hour. Last year's increase was the first increase in over three years.
The workers' struggle for a union has been enhanced by the participation of students at the university, organized as a chapter of the United Students Against Sweatshops. Student participation has helped pressure the company and the university. Workers have held meetings in students' houses and helped organize student support for union recognition.
The union filed for a union election in February. Aramark has refused to meet with the union and NLRB officials, claiming that the union is not a legitimate labor organization. On several occasions, the company has forced workers to sit through meetings with anti-union speakers and presentations.
On March 15 the workers held a sick-out, which resulted in the closing of over half of university food services for the day. The next day, 10 workers and 25 students approached management, demanding that they hold a union election. Management again refused, infuriating the workers.
On April 4, students held a boycott of food services in solidarity with the cafeteria workers. The students shut down half of Aramark's operation on that day. After the boycott, university police began harassing students, questioning them about their organizing efforts.
The university then pressed charges against one of the student leaders, Robert Caldwell, a student at the University of New Orleans. The university alleged that Caldwell had attacked managers of Aramark. The university charged him with "participating in campus demonstrations that disrupt university operation," "breaking and entering" into the cafeteria (despite the fact that he is a student at the university), and "endangering the safety of the university." The bogus charges were intended to frighten the students from organizing in solidarity with university employees.
Student support for the organizing campaign has given the workers a powerful tool in combating the Aramark bosses. Dan Lutz, a student at nearby Tulane University and an active supporter of the campaign, said, "The workers are more militant when they know that students are behind them."
The strong support for labor by the students and cafeteria workers has had a ripple effect on the university. Workers throughout the Louisiana university system are under attack as it continues to layoff workers in efforts to privatize services.
Caldwell told Socialist Action, "Workers here are upset by the university's attack on workers. Several departments have been privatized over the past couple of years, and the workers were let go without any severance package. Now the university is talking about privatizing several more departments-including housing, groundskeeping, student health care services, and the book store. With the struggle against Aramark, other workers are seeing the potential strength of a union. Workers across the university are talking union."
The workers are going to continue their efforts, and the students intend to continue their solidarity work. The example of student-labor solidarity work at the University of New Orleans is a model for how the United Students Against Sweatshops and other pro-labor student groups can concretely assist the struggles of working people.
For information on how to help the University of New Orleans organizing drive, e-mail dlutz1934@yahoo.com.
The above article was written by Chicago YSAers Dave Bernt.
