Employees of food service provider Sodexho voted to ratify their first-ever union contract on Friday.
More than 98 per cent of the workers voted in favour of the collective agreement on campus. The agreement marks the end of a long struggle by employees of the French multinational to improve their working conditions, get better wages and job security, and protect themselves from harassment.
“We worked hard for this,” said Valrie Gaynor, a member of the Unite Here bargaining committee and a Sodexho employee for over five years. “We were able to negotiate a strong contract that has improvements for all Sodexho employees at University of Toronto.”
The three-year contract includes set increases to base wages, which puts an end to Sodexho’s practice of paying workers who have been employed for ten years the same wage as someone employed for six months.
“When you’ve given years and years of service to an employer, it should count for something,” said Unite Here representative Courtney Radic. “This is fair all across the board. Nobody is working for minimum wage anymore.”
The contract includes a decrease in the health plan’s deductions from employee wages, forcing the company to shoulder more of the cost, as well as better provisions for health and safety on the job. A completely employer-paid defined benefit pension plan for both full- and part-time workers was also secured.
The agreement won not only monetary gains, but guaranteed improved working conditions. It includes a detailed grievance procedure for solving workplace problems, seniority rights, and a “respect and dignity” clause.
“The ‘respect and dignity’ clause ensures people are free from harassment, for example,” said Radic. “Along with the grievance procedure, there’s something you can do about [harassment] now.”
Some workers who lobbied management for the right to unionize suffered verbal abuse for their efforts. The drive to unionize went through years of lobbying and rejection before workers unionized in April-around the time when Sodexho workers from three other locations joined the same local unit.
“Once we were certified and were able to gain membership with other Sodexho workers across the city, [company reps] were more willing to sit down to some bargaining sessions,” said Radic.
There are 14 eateries on campus-from Starbucks vendors to full cafeterias-operated by the multinational. Hart House officials are currently deciding whether or not to open another Sodexho location in place of the Arbor Room.
Before April, Sodexho workers were the only employees at U of T who did not have union representation.
After the vote, workers like Maria Ferraz, a nine-year Sodexho employee and a member of the bargaining committee, celebrated the contract.
“Now we are more protected at work-we have job security now,” she said. “After all our hard work, we finally have a union contract!”
