Sarah Lawrence Workers Win Neutrality Agreement from AVI

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 09:30
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Last Friday brought good news, not only for the AVI workers at Hunter College, but for the AVI cafeteria workers at Sarah Lawrence College. AVI signed an agreement with UNITE HERE Local 100 guaranteeing that the cafeteria workers at Sarah Lawrence will be given a fair process deciding whether to form a union, and that their employer, AVI, will “take an approach of strict neutrality in the event the Union attempts to organize the Employees.” 


This huge step in winning real improvements in these workers’ job conditions did not happen in a vacuum, however. Students and workers have been taking action to win this agreement since the school year began, culminating with several actions the day before AVI signed the agreement. On October 22 2009, a group of students placed calls to AVI President Anthony Payiavlas to tell him that students supported the workers’ efforts to unionize. Students and workers also paid a visit to the Sarah Lawrence College Vice President for Finance, John Bernson, to give the Sarah Lawrence the same message that they gave AVI. Here’s a video of the action: 


Hunter College Cafeteria Workers Win Contract from AVI

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 10:28
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After months of working with no contract and facing the prospect of losing the free family health benefits that they’d been receiving for years, the cafeteria workers at Hunter College finally won a collective bargaining agreement from AVI Foodsystems!  This contract includes free family health benefits, a significant employer contribution to the employee’s retirement plan, and substantial wage increases over the next three years.  As a result of this settlement (pending ratification on Friday) the boycott of AVI at the Hunter College cafeteria, planned for today, has been called off.
 
This victory did not come without a struggle, however. The fact that the workers got to keep their wages, will get a raise the next two years, and will get to keep their health benefits, resulted in large part from the worker and student actions that took place on the Hunter campus.
 
On September 3, 2009, the workers staged a 15 minute work stoppage and rallied for health benefits and pension inside the cafeteria in front of students in the middle of the lunch hour rush (see the video of that action here, pic to the right).  Soon after, the workers and their union, Unite Here Local 100, reached out to the Hunter College students and faculty for support.  After weeks of organizing and with the great support from the Professional Staff Congress, the CUNY faculty union, the Hunter College community staged a rally of around 150 people at the Hunter College main campus on October 5.
 
After an October 8th negotiation failed to result in a fair contract, Hunter students and faculty began organizing a boycott of AVI at the Hunter College cafeteria on October 29 unless AVI agreed to give the workers a fair contract.   Students and faculty collected over 1000 pledges to boycott the cafeteria on the 29th. Then, this past Friday, facing the prospect of an impending boycott, AVI finally agreed to the workers’ reasonable requests.   As a result, the boycott has been canceled. 
 
AVI finally did the right thing at Hunter College.   They also gave the AVI workers at Sarah Lawrence College a fair process for deciding whether to form a union this past Friday. If workers there choose to form a union, AVI will have a chance to do the right thing again, and agree to a fair contract with the workers at Sarah Lawrence. 
 
The student-worker coalition that formed at Hunter College celebrated this victory yesterday afternoon. Come back to this site for an update, with video reactions from the workers and students who fought so hard to win a good contract.   

A Clean October: Slow Food USA Presents October 24th Day of Climate Action on Campus

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 20:41
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Though this blog has focused on labor activism in recent weeks, it has always been our philosophy here at Stir It Up that campus environmental activists and labor activists should be working together to create meaningful change in campus food service and, ultimately, a comprehensive model of campus sustainability. This weekend, there’s an important event taking place in the fight for progressive students to take control of their campus food service.    

This Saturday, October 24th, Slow Food USA, one of our allies in the fight for a more equitable and environmentally friendly food system, is participating in 350’s International Day of Action to help bring attention to the effect that the food industry has on global climate change. University food service, of course, is a big piece of that industry and students at universities all over the country will be taking action to reduce the human impact on climate change.

Slow Food on Campus, in partnership with Real Food Challenge, 350 and Small Planet Institute, has put together some great resources to help university students take action this coming Saturday.   Slow Food’s main advice for action: 
 
Focus on a target (i.e., politicians who have the power to get carbon down to 350); get new people involved in your work and build capacity for future actions; be creative, original and engaging; and make it fun, positive and memorable, and something that your supporters are excited to do.”  
 
Here are the resources from the above organizations, with more specific information and ideas for action, to help you get started on a Day of Action at your campus: 
 

Make sure to check the Slow Food USA Blog for regular updates on what else is going on in the on-going struggle to create a food system that is “Good, Clean and Fair.”  

Video: Hunter College Cafeteria Workers and Students React to Negotiations with AVI

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 14:38
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As we announced late last week, unless AVI changes it stance on the Hunter College workers’ health benefits and pension, there will be an all-day boycott of all AVI food outlets at Hunter College on October 29th 2009. Here’s why it’s necessary: 
 
The Hunter College cafeteria workers have received free family health benefits for years.   AVI, the food service company that just came into Hunter College, has continually refused to respect this established job standard. At the most recent negotiation between the workers and the company, on October 8th, AVI continued to put forth a proposal that would result in the workers paying a significant, and increasing, sum for their health benefits. 
 
Under AVI’s proposal the workers would go from having free family health benefits last year and in years past to having to pay $141.98 per month by 2011-2012. Here’s a summary of the Hunter College AVI workers’ health care costs per month under AVI's most recent official proposal:1
 
  •  2008-2009--  $0
  •  2009-2010--  $50.46
  •  2010-2011--  $93.53
  •  2011-2012--  $141.98
 
The workers, as you can imagine, were pretty upset upon hearing AVI’s latest official offer.  Here’s an immediate post-negotiations reaction from Debbie, Paula, Lisa and Aisha, four of the cafeteria workers, outside of the UNITE HERE Local 100 office in New York.2
 
 

 
Several students and faculty from Sarah Lawrence College and Hunter College were in attendance at the negotiations as well. Here’s the response from Hunter College student Owen Hill. 
 

 

1.  Figures are based on 4.35 weeks per month; annual contribution rates run on September to September schedule.
2. Several small corrections. When Debbie states that the company is asking them to contribute $12 towards their pension fund, she means towards their health benefit fund, per week, this year; the exact number is $11.60 per week for ’09-’10. Several times Debbie complains that the company offered “the same” proposal. Taken literally this is not accurate, since, though the proposal was similar, there were several key differences.   

Radio Piece: Breaking Down AVI at Hunter College

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 10/20/2009 - 13:40
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The night of the Hunter College rally UNITE HERE Local 100 lead organizer Gilbert Palacios and Hunter College cashier and Local 100 committee member, Deborah Johnson, appeared on WBAI's Building Bridges.  They talk about the situation with AVI, the moral responsibility of Hunter College, the strength of the union, and they even give a couple shout outs to Stir It Up!  The relevant part begins at 14:48.  

Here's the link:

http://www.archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesObamaIcePoliciesHunterCollegeCafeteriaWorkersProtest

Boycott AVI at Hunter College, Thursday October 29th!

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Fri, 10/16/2009 - 19:26
 
Boycott Announcement!


Unless AVI Foodsystems agrees to maintain the health benefits and pension that the Hunter College cafeteria workers received last year and gives the workers a reasonable wage increase, there will be a boycott of all AVI food service operations at Hunter College, including the 3rd floor Main Cafeteria, Starbucks, Faculty Dining Room, and Brookdale Cafeteria on Thursday October 29th, 2009. 
 
 
 
What can you do?  


At Hunter College?  Download a boycott pledge sheet, start circulating it and contact us with the results!
 
At another school that contracts AVI for food service?  Contact us to find out how you can fight in solidarity with the Hunter College and Sarah Lawrence College AVI workers!
 
 
Background:

For more about what's going on with AVI in New York, check out videos here, here and here. Some more background and details coming early next week.  Check back for more!

Pictures are of October 5th Hunter College rally in support of Hunter cafeteria workers.  Pictures taken by Shane Velazquez.

Summer of Transparency '09: A Sad Goodbye

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Thu, 10/15/2009 - 23:53

The Summer of Transparency '09 began with great hoopla (read: a post on Stir It Up)....and it ends with a bang (read: another post on Stir It Up).  Though it's sad that the inaugural Summer of Transparency is finally over (yes I know it's the middle of October--as we all know transparency runs on a different schedule than the calendar seasons) the results are encouraging.  

Through the combined efforts of students and Stir It Up moderators, we've been able to obtain dozens of food service contracts.  We've been slacking a little bit on adding these contracts to Stir It Up contract database, but just completed part one of our two part contract database update bonanza.  

If your contract doesn't appear in the database, check out our Freedom of Information Act guide to learn how to obtain your school's food service contract.  You can see all of the contracts we have posted in our contract database, but here's a shortcut to many of the ones we've recently added.  Let us know if you have a contract to add or need advice trying to get your school's food service contract.  In no particular order:

 

Photo from Indy Kethdy Flickr, via Creative Commons

Moving In The Right Direction

Submitted by Kyle Schafer on Thu, 10/15/2009 - 16:19

 

Here at Unite Here and Stir It Up, we are committed to building not just an organization but a vibrant social movement in which workers and students fight to improve the material conditions of their lives and stand up for the dignity and respect they deserve.  Throughout history, social movements have experienced intense internal struggles about how best to work for justice.  The labor movement is no exception.  Right now, Unite Here’s member-driven vision for a progressive labor movement is being undermined by unions that treat student allies with disrespect and that cut backroom deals with employers that minimally increase working standards but leave members without power or support for a real struggle to win what they truly deserve: decent wages, access to healthcare and inclusion in the university community. We encourage all members of the Stir It Up community to check out a website that discusses the threat top-down unionism poses to our joint efforts as workers and students.

 

VIDEO: Sarah Lawrence Students and Workers Delegate AVI Manager

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 18:03
 
 
 

We’ve been posting a lot about the situation at Hunter College where the unionized UNITE HERE Local 100 members are fighting to maintain their health benefits and pension from AVI Foodsystems, the company that operates the cafeteria.   Meanwhile, less than 20 miles away, AVI is denying the food service workers at Sarah Lawrence College neutrality and a fair process for deciding whether to form a union.

On September 30th a group of about 12 workers and 5 students paid a surprise visit to their AVI manager to let him know that the workers and students support the workers right to organize without company intimidation.


In the video the workers, first in English and then in Spanish state their position on unionizing to the manager.  The students back up the workers by stating that they will do whatever the workers ask of them in support.   The manager’s response?  Instead of addressing the substance of the request he goes on for almost 30 seconds about an ‘open-door policy.’  

The video was shot by Easton Smith, a student at Sarah Lawrence College.  Contact us if you have any videos or stories of food service related actions from your school.

Video: Hunter College Rallies for Cafeteria Worker Benefits

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 11:50

There was a great rally at Hunter College last Monday.  Faculty, students and workers rallied together in protest of AVI's refusal to maintain the pension and the health benefits that the Hunter College cafeteria workers have received in the past.   President Jennifer Raab and the Hunter College administration were also put on notice:  by contracting AVI to operate the cafeteria, Hunter College is morally responsible for the company's refusal to continue providing free family health benefits to the cafeteria workers.  The video:

All footage from the video was taken by Professor/Filmaker and Professional Staff Congress Hunter Chapter Chair, Tami Gold's, film class.  It was edited by Fivel Rothberg.   Updates on the Hunter College situation coming shortly. 

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