Over the past year, the work of the Brandeis Labor Coalition can been streamlined into two important core campaigns: the Just Employment Policy campaign and the Faculty Forward campaign. One of these, the Just Employment Policy, was inspired by Georgetown University’s Just Employment Policy, which addresses similar issues to our own. Georgetown University was the first university to get a policy like this one approved by the university. 

Our policy seeks to counteract unjust labor conditions and wages for Sodexo workers, who have no collective bargaining power with the University because they are contracted by an outside organization. As employees whose work keeps this university functioning properly, they should have a say in the terms of their contracts. 

Currently, some Sodexo employees who work at Brandeis make less than a living wage in their first years of employment, after which their wages increase to a living wage, which was negotiated by their union, “UNITE HERE!” The living wage in Waltham is about $15 an hour for a single adult, according to the Crittenton Women’s Union’s Economic Independence Calculator. 

The Just Employment Policy seeks to ensure an indexed living wage standard — a wage that fluctuates with the cost of living when it inevitably changes — that goes into effect at the beginning of employment because it is nonsensical for full-time employees to not receive enough pay to live and support their families at any point in their employment. The policy also seeks to create a harassment-free work environment and appropriate and effective channels to report grievances. 

Grievances are supposed to be addressed within five days of being reported by employees, but there have been situations in which grievances were being reported but not addressed, and as such, they piled up. One of the seven points of BLC’s Just Employment Policy directly addresses this concern, stating that the University must provide appropriate channels to report and address staff concerns in a timely manner without retaliation.

In early 2015, the student body had the opportunity to vote on whether they supported the Just Employment Policy through a Student Union referendum. The student body overwhelming voted to implement the program, with 83 percent of voters indicating support for the policy, thus demonstrating crucial student support for dining workers. Presently, BLC is continuing this momentum for the advocation of our dining workers through our continuous negotiations with the administration to implement the Just Employment Policy, as well as through a letter of support. Dining workers are currently renegotiating their contracts with Sodexo for the first time since Sodexo became the main food provider for Brandeis in July of 2013, and the members of BLC have created a letter to express our support of the process, which will hopefully lead to better, more equitable contracts. 

Among other things, our letter seeks to express how much we appreciate dining workers. By working long hours and coming in to work in poor weather — including snowstorms which close all other University operations — they make many sacrifices to carry out work that benefits students every day. This warrants appreciation and respect, and because of their hard work and clear dedication to the Brandeis community, Sodexo dining services employees deserve equitable contracts with living wages and suitable benefits.Further, keeping current job classifications is of the utmost importance to employees, because, as the letter points out, “We understand that these classifications set clear expectations and make sure that the work [they] are being asked to do is work [they] are trained for and feel comfortable with.” As such, we recognize the value of these classifications and support Sodexo employees’ efforts to retain their current job classifications in their upcoming contracts. In the letter, we also express understanding that “health benefits are an extremely important safety net for [them] and [their] families, and should not be cut.”

The letter concludes with a promise to the workers: “We will do everything in our power to support you in retaining the benefits you have now, and will stand by you throughout the process. … We will have your back because you have always had ours!”

Several organizations have already cosigned this letter, including Brandeis Climate Justice, Brandeis Democrats, Brandeis Immigration Education Initiative, Amnesty International at Brandeis, Students for Education Reform, Brandeis Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and Queer Policy Alliance. Co-signing the letter demonstrates a commitment to our entire Brandeis community and to labor justice, and other campus clubs should get involved because such a show of solidarity can only help the efforts of BLC and Sodexo dining services employees.

Everyone should support dining workers in this process. Engaging with your peers about these issues on campus and always showing respect to the dining services employees is imperative, because their work to provide us with sustenance every day must not go unnoticed. 

— Divanna Eckels ’18 is a member of the Brandeis Labor Coalition.