AFSCME Privatization Update

Source: AFL-CIO blog, April 25, 2008

Kevin Christensen, lead researcher in the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Research, writes about a great victory for food service workers and custodians with AFSCME at the University of California-Davis.

AFSCME Local 3299 has won a four-year fight to end outsourcing of food service work in the 10-campus University of California (UC) system, after UC-Davis announced last week that nearly 200 workers currently employed by Sodexho will be eligible to apply for university employment, and so become AFSCME members.

Related article from the Sacramento News Review: On the payroll

Posted by Info Center at 11:47 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Victories | Permalink
Tags: California

Source: Crookston Times (MN), Friday, April 4, 2008 1:16 PM

...... The proposed 10-year contract with Sodexo meets the University's high standards for quality, choice, service and responsibility and provides the best value and best financial benefit for the University and students, faculty and staff.

Key terms include employee stability and financial investments and commitments. Members of AFSCME and Teamster unions remain University of Minnesota employees at their current salary and benefit level and report to Sodexo management. Current on-site management will also continue employment and be employed by Sodexo.

Posted by Info Center at 3:46 PM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink
Tags: Minnesota

Source: By Ashley Meeks, Sun-News (NM), 03/17/2008

LAS CRUCES -- It bills itself as "Your University Bookstore -- Money Spent Here Stays Here!" But some members of the New Mexico State University community are concerned that may not be the story for long.

..... Coseth Krauel, an accounting technician with the bookstore, said she and others in the American Federation of County and Municipal Employees union are afraid of losing their jobs in a management change.

...... Outsourced services at NMSU: • Food services • Vending • Ground maintenance • Printing • Some construction and shuttle services

Posted by Info Center at 2:11 PM in Higher Education | Permalink
Tags: New Mexico

Source: By: MADELINE MCCURRY SCHMIDT, California Aggie, 1/28/08

A delegation of six Sodexho workers met at Mrak Hall on Friday to speak to Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef regarding the demands of Sodexho food service workers to become university employees. Vanderhoef was out of the office, so the Sodexho employees spoke with assistant executive vice chancellor Bob Loessberg-Zahl to ask for the higher wages and better benefits that they hoped would come with university employment.

........ Sodexho is the food service contractor that provides service to the dining commons, retail food service and catering service at UC Davis.

The six Sodexho workers were joined by two organizers from the union of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Max Alper, an organizer of the group, said the food-service employees are directly employed by the University of California on all other UC campuses except for UC Davis.

Posted by Info Center at 1:02 PM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink
Tags: California

Source: By: PATRICK McCARTNEY, California Aggie 10/29/07

Sodexho has agreed to provide its campus food service employees higher wages and better benefits, as the food service company and UC Davis signed a memorandum of understanding Oct. 22 outlining a new agreement. The memorandum finalizes an agreement made between the university and Sodexho over the summer.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2008, Sodexho will improve employee medical benefits by increasing its employer-employee contribution ratio from 60-to-40 percent to 80-to-20 percent. Sodexho career employees will also receive a $100 monthly stipend to offset health care costs, though it may be spent however the employee desires.

Posted by Info Center at 3:10 PM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink
Tags: California

Source: By Jerel Wohl, Academe Online, September/October 2007

Nearly ten years ago, the University of Pennsylvania announced that it would outsource its facilities and real-estate operations to Trammell Crow Higher Education Services, Inc. The agreement included management of school facilities--155 buildings over 269 acres on the West Philadelphia campus, excluding the four hospitals and other units of the health system, an off-campus arboretum, and the veterinary school's large animal hospital, which is located outside of Philadelphia.

...... The contract, however, was reduced in scope in March 2000, when operations and maintenance components reverted back to the University of Pennsylvania while Trammell Crow continued to manage the capital project and real-estate components. Then, in 2002, the agreement with Trammell Crow was completely terminated and the university took back the responsibility for management of its capital projects, as well as the property management of real-estate holdings. Trammell Crow no longer had a presence on the Penn campus.

Posted by Info Center at 3:07 PM in Higher Education | Maintenance | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By Patrick Brantlinger, Academe Online, September/October 2007

Seeking to raise money for new academic buildings and programs, Indiana University's board of trustees is exploring outsourcing its "auxiliary-service" units. These units manage printing and food services, the university's bookstores, campus motor pools, and other functions.

To prevent job loss and wage cuts among hundreds of long-term university employees, the pro-labor organization Jobs with Justice--of which I am a member --has joined forces with local and state officials and IU's unions: the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents service and maintenance staff, and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents clerical and technical employees.

...... Daniels also signed a $1.16-billion deal with IBM to run Medicaid, food stamps, and other poverty-relief programs. In fact, he would like to privatize the entire state welfare system, which he calls "the worst" in the nation. ( Just how he knows that it is the worst is unclear, but he obviously dislikes welfare.)

Posted by Info Center at 3:01 PM in Higher Education | Social Services | Permalink
Tags: Indiana

Source: By John Petroski, Special to The Recorder (CT), September 26, 2007

A mysterious object was found in a blueberry muffin purchased in Memorial Hall last week; initial rumors suggested that the object was a beetle.

Although students confessed faith in Memorial Hall's food, Bob Hermann, the Director of Dining Services, confirmed what many could not believe.

....... The blueberry muffin was a Sysco product purchased by Sodexho campus services.

"There was a foreign matter in the muffin," said Hermann.

Posted by Info Center at 10:38 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink

Source: By Sharon Stello, Davis Enterprise (CA), September 20, 2007

UC Davis food workers urged UC regents Wednesday to support their effort to become university employees, then disrupted the meeting's start by chanting and marching out of the auditorium.

UCD is the last of the University of California's 10 campuses and five medical centers still contracting with outside companies to provide food service. At UCD, about 500 food workers are employed by Sodexho.

Posted by Info Center at 1:31 PM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink

Source: Stephanie Jevtic, Chicago Flame (IL), 9/24/07 Section: News

A boycott is ensuing at Northeastern Illinois University against Sodexho after the $6.7 billion corporation decided to increase food prices for NEIU this school year. Sodexho is also the new food provider here at UIC campus.

Posted by Info Center at 1:29 PM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink

Source: By Sharon Stello, Davis Enterprise (CA), Aug 30, 2007 - 14:18:06 CDT.

Sodexho will increase wages and benefits for its food service workers at UC Davis under a new agreement with the campus, adding about $2 million in annual costs for the remaining three years of UCD's contract with the company. UCD will evaluate all options for providing food service in anticipation of that contract's end.

...... A UCD spokeswoman noted that Sodexho workers have the right to unionize without becoming university employees. UCD's announcement came as a surprise to William Schlitz, spokesman for AFSCME Local 3299, the union that would represent the food workers if employed by UCD.

Posted by Info Center at 10:13 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink

Source: Sacramento Business Journal, 2:25 PM PDT Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The University of California Davis has reached an agreement with food service contractor Sodexho Inc. in the labor debate between the university and the labor contractor.

For the three years remaining in the contract, Sodexho will increase the employer contribution to employees' medical benefits plan, and increase wages for employees. The increased medical benefit contribution will begin Jan. 1. Sodexho will determine the amount before open enrollment for the health plan begins in October.

The agreement also calls for Sodexho-employed hourly workers to be paid more comparably to university workers.

Posted by Info Center at 9:58 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink

Source:By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org, June 26, 2007

……. States leery of tax increases increasingly are looking at raising revenue by selling assets — from Indiana’s lease of its turnpike last year to California’s proposal to sell control of its state lottery — but Missouri’s bitter battle could serve as a cautionary tale.

...... Sujit CanagaRetna, a tax and budget expert at the Council of State Governments, predicts that despite the prospect of political fights, governors will continue to push leasing and privatization plans because states need the money for new projects and don’t want to raise taxes. “It’s definitely a trend that’s here to stay,” he said.

Posted by Info Center at 1:08 PM in Asset Sale/Lease | Higher Education | Permalink

Source: By Phillip Reese, Sacramento Bee (CA), Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Roughly 100 students and workers blocked access to UC Davis' main administration building most of Wednesday, demanding that the university ditch its food service contractor and employ their workers directly.

…… The protesters are asking Vanderhoef to cancel the university's contract with Sodexho, a private company that they contend pays low wages and provides insufficient benefits.

Posted by Info Center at 10:31 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink

Source: Bo Hee Kim, California Aggie (CA), 5/1/07

Editor's note: Today, the UC Davis food-service workers will participate in planned civil disobedience on campus in an effort to raise awareness about their desire to be directly employed by the university instead of being subcontracted out to Sodexho, the company that provides UC Davis' food services. The California Aggie sat down with one of the food-service workers to discuss why she is participating in today's actions.

Posted by Info Center at 2:33 PM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink

Source: By Robert Kuttner, Boston Globe, April 21, 2007

THE DEEPENING college loan scandal is a classic case of what can happen when government uses private companies as middlemen to carry out public goals. Lately, investigations by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, US Senator Edward Kennedy, and others have revealed a number of problems:

.........The private student loan industry adds nothing of value. The policy of subsidizing private lenders to serve public purposes (and to corrupt our colleges and universities) should be scrapped in favor of the direct federal loan program.

If this saga sounds familiar, it exactly parallels the privatized Medicare drug program and the efforts by the insurance industry to turn the rest of Medicare into a taxpayer subsidy for private industry. Though three decades of government-bashing have left many politicians reluctant to draw the obvious conclusion, it is often more efficient and less corrupting for government to do the public's business directly.

Posted by Info Center at 11:14 AM in Higher Education | Permalink

Source: Associated Press (IN), February 4, 2007

A private company will take over portions of the Indiana University campus' motor pool under a plan officials say allows all school employees to keep their jobs. IU President Adam Herbert said Friday the school will contract with Enterprise Rent-A-Car for the daily rental fleet that employees use for university-related travel.

……. IU union leaders and a group of community and faculty supporters met Friday with three members of IU's Board of Trustees, delivering petitions signed by 3,455 people opposed to the school's outsourcing plans. "I think they heard us, but I'm not sure it will change their opinion," said Dallas Murphy, president of Local 832 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents service and maintenance workers.

Posted by Info Center at 10:46 AM in Higher Education | Transportation | Permalink

Source: by Brian Spegele, Indiana Daily Student (IN), Monday, January 29, 2007

Signs that read, "What would Herman Do?" abounded outside Assembly Hall on Saturday as union workers and their supporters rallied against outsourcing University services by invoking the name of former IU President Herman B Wells. About 50 protestors braved the cold and collected signatures for a petition calling on the IU board of trustees to "end all efforts to outsource IU jobs," according to the petition's text. Several trustees have said during the past few weeks that although nothing is certain yet, they believe contracting some University services could help cut nonacademic costs. Dave Warrick, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 62, disagrees with the trustees' entire premise that contracting will save money.

Posted by Info Center at 10:10 AM in Higher Education | Permalink

Source: BY ETHAN ROUEN, New York DAILY NEWS, Nov 3, 2006

..... The Health Department shut down Vanderclute Hall on Oct. 27 because the school had been serving food without a permit since January......... The Maritime College, in the Throgs Neck neighborhood, scored 50 violation points during last week's inspection. ........ Besides evidence of roaches, "harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist," the department's Web site stated. Food was not cooled properly, either. ...... The cafeteria, which is run by a contractor, Sodexho, reopened almost immediately in violation of the department's orders, and was again shut down Wednesday.

Posted by Info Center at 10:39 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Horror Stories | Permalink

Source: by Dallas Frey, Indiana Daily Student, Thursday, October 19, 2006

Current staffers of two University services could be jobless or under new management as early as the 2007-2008 academic year. Last Friday, University administrators issued a request for proposals about the management of the IU motor pool, IU Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Terry Clapacs said. The request invites companies to make a bid to run the service. Many IU employees still oppose the idea of outsourcing. ….. Dallas Murphy, an IU employee of 27 years and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 832, said the threat of additional outsourcing is clearly growing. "Our rank and file are very concerned," Murphy said.

Posted by Info Center at 9:52 AM in Higher Education | Permalink

Source: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (WA), Friday, July 7, 2006 · Last updated 12:00 p.m. PT

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Community Colleges of Spokane engaged in unfair labor practices by hiring private workers for some jobs and making it difficult for union members to get information needed for negotiations, a state labor panel has found.

On June 30, the Public Employment Relations Commission ordered the colleges to stop subcontracting out several jobs and to stop "obstructing" union requests for information. "I think it's a strong statement that the state at all levels needs to negotiate about contracting out" labor, said Tim Welch, director of public affairs for the Washington Federation of State Employees.

Posted by Info Center at 2:27 PM in Higher Education | Maintenance | Permalink

Source: By Ed Enoch, Hattiesburg American (MS), June 7, 2006

Aramark hopes to begin operations at the University of Southern Mississippi's physical plant on July 1, and meetings are scheduled this month to help ease the transition.

...... Plant employees met with Aramark representatives on campus Monday to learn how their jobs and benefits would change with the proposed outsourcing. Some employees were unhappy with what they heard, especially about retirement plans.

"The security blanket we've got with the state is being taken away," carpenter Keith Mitchell said "We're very disgusted with it." Mitchell, 49, said he has concerns about losing a state retirement plan, which would be replaced by a proposed 401(k) plan. He said he feared the 401(k) is less stable than the pension.

Posted by Info Center at 10:49 AM in Higher Education | Maintenance | Permalink

Source: By PAUL E. KOSTYU COPLEY, Canton Repository (OH), June 7, 2006

COLUMBUS - Ohio’s state colleges and universities could save money by privatizing services now provided by state employees, according to the Republican candidate for governor. J. Kenneth Blackwell also told a gathering of state college trustees Tuesday that they should be able to ignore prevailing wage in construction projects in an approach similar to that of the Ohio School Facilities Commission, which oversees the renovation and construction of primary and secondary schools. ….. Peter Wray of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association said privatization is an old issue and already has been used by the state’s universities. “It’s not a dramatic savings,” he said. Wray said greater savings could be found if universities reduced middle-management positions.

Posted by Info Center at 10:36 AM in Higher Education | Permalink

Source: By Rachel Leifer, Hattiesburg American (MS), May 26, 2006

A petition 124 physical plant employees signed exhorting University of Southern Mississippi officials not to outsource their jobs to a private firm expresses concern over several issues. Chief among the signatories' worries is that Aramark's retirement plan is not competitive with the state employee retirement benefits. "The (state retirement plan) is one of the main reasons so many of us have stayed at USM even though the salaries for many of us are very low," the petition says.

Posted by Info Center at 9:55 AM in Higher Education | Maintenance | Permalink

by: Veronica Lewis, New University Paper (CA), April 26, 2006

In response to increasing pressure from student and worker groups culminating in a planned candlelight vigil in front of Chancellor Michael Drake’s house on Jan. 26, UC Irvine administrators have determined to employ campus food service workers directly, and to offer them the same benefits as other UC employees. Details of the agreement between workers and administrators are yet to be finalized, but it is likely that the change will come at an increased cost to students.

...... It is estimated that about 170 employees will be affected by the move. Depending on their situations, it will cost between $8,000 and $12,000 annually to bring each worker in-house. The total financial impact on the university will be about $1.7 million each year. The Aramark workers who operate the on-campus dining and food facilities will be required to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 labor union once contract terms are finalized.

Posted by Info Center at 11:06 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By Carol Morello and Susan Kinzie, Washington Post, Wednesday, April 19, 2006

….. Stephen Lerner, who directs the Service Employees International Union's Justice for Janitors campaign, said students are often the ones calling the union, not the other way around. ….. When the union noticed contractors paying low wages without benefits, he said, it launched a national campaign to pressure institutions to take responsibility for workers' conditions. ….. That's because some are not direct employees of the university. Instead, contractors employ them as food servers, janitors and groundskeepers. Casteen has said that under an advisory opinion from Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R), he does not have the legal authority to raise wages for employees of contractors.

Posted by Info Center at 11:10 AM in Higher Education | Permalink

Source: Rob Copeland, Duke Chronicle, 3/28/06

Campus food provider ARAMARK Corp. has turned down the opportunity to rebid on its contract at the University, company officials and Duke dining administrators confirmed Monday. ....... Several student leaders said they are pleased with the week's turn-of-events. "I'm surprised that ARAMARK would give up without more of a fight, but after three DUSDAC votes of no confidence.... I can't say I didn't expect it," said senior Andrew Wallace, co-chair of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee. He noted that the conglomerate also claimed to have never made a profit at Duke in the past five years, which may have been a contributing factor in ARAMARK's decision to rebid for the job.

Posted by Info Center at 9:26 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Permalink

Robert Meister, San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, January 15, 2006

Revelations of secrecy and possible self-dealing in the compensation of some of the University of California's top administrators expose a problem deeper than the need for more transparent "communication" of the rationale behind them. The more significant issue is the rationale itself: the goal of privatizing higher education in California, which was made explicit in the recent "compact" between University of California President Robert Dynes, California State University Chancellor Charles Reed and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Posted by Info Center at 10:43 AM in Higher Education | Permalink