Crummy Food, Crummy Wages by a Corporate Bully
On October 12, 2003 about 100 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3205 went out on strike against Aramark Canada Limited because they had no pension, measly benefits and low wages.
The members, the majority of whom are women, work as cooks, servers and kitchen maintenance workers at Aramark's two cafeterias, concession stands, catering services and coffeehouses at Trent University in Peterborough Ontario.
Local 3205 members only work eight months of the year and are laid off over Christmas and summer holidays without any compensation.
The food service workers earn between $9.00 and $11.00 an hour for an average of 30 hours a week. These conditions force the workers below the poverty line and into desperate situations.
Jean Middleton, a striking Aramark worker said that last winter she couldn't afford to pay her heating bill and so endured freezing temperatures in her home.
Jean D'Orsay, President of Local 3205, said that another female worker who is 73 years old will have to keep working until she dies, because she has no pension.
Aramark Canada Ltd. is a management services company which has been operating in Canada since 1961. The company currently employs more than 15,000 people across Canada, most at rock bottom wages.
Aramark currently has a 15-year exclusive contract with Trent University which includes a stipulation that students who live in Trent's residence buildings must purchase Aramark meal plans.
The food services corporation is one of a number of similar operators who have been picking up rock bottom deals with health care agencies in British Columbia, thanks to recent legislation that allows for the contracting out of work previously done by public sector workers. Aramark recently signed a 5-year $100 million contract with the Vancouver Coastal Authority for housekeeping services. This deal, however, a shameful "partnering agreement" with IWA-Canada, has been challenged by The Hospital Employees Union, a CUPE affiliate in BC.
On October 7th, 2003 HEU/CUPE filed yet another complaint with the Canadian Labour Congress alleging the IWA-Canada had once again failed to respect the work relationships established by the Hospital Employees Union in British Columbia's health care sector by doing sweetheart deals with employers who are shopping the biz-union marketplace for them.
The new charge alleges, among other things, that Aramark provided IWA representatives with access to job applicants at its company job fairs. Workers were signed up for membership in the IWA - and rock bottom wages.
CUPE National Representative Brian Blakely states of the striking workers at Trent U: "For these workers, this struggle is not about a big wage increase, it's about basic survival."
Wages paid by Aramark across Canada appear to provide workers with just that "basic survival."
CUPE representatives are not alone in their condemnation of Aramark's hardnosed bargaining.
On a drizzly Thursday afternoon over 100 Trent University students and staff walked out of class to demonstrate in support of striking Aramark workers. Protestors carried placards saying, "I don't like scabs in my food" and chanted, "crummy wages, crummy food- corporate bullies off our school," as they marched from the library to picket lines just off university property.
Earlier today, Local 3205 announced that a tentative three-year agreement reached with Aramark over the weekend had been ratified.
"We won our fight for better wages and pension provisions," says Jean D'Orsay, President of Local 3205. "We now hope that management will use this opportunity to build a respectful working relationship with workers."
On behalf of the members, Brian Blakeley thanked the students, faculty and other supporters at Trent for their support. "Workers and supporters joined together and fought hard for justice and fair treatment of the workers - it was truly remarkable." Blakeley said.
It's encouraging that these workers won a decent settlement and their community stood with them in their fight. It's a shame, however, that an institution of higher learning like Trent University is dancing to the tune of a money-grubbing corporate bully like Aramark that's out looking to peddle its crummy food and crummy wages to its community.
Trent University should also be ashamed for allowing scab workers on its campus while the strike is on but also for providing accommodation for the scabs who work are working for Aramark at Lakefield College. What's are Trent's decision-makers trying to teach us?
Written By MFD Online Contributors |
