Picket signs are piled high in the office of senior field organizer Ricky Baldwin. After multiple meetings with the University followed by a week-long strike, negotiations have come to an end and a new three-year contract has been settled for Service Employees International Union Local 73. 

During the strike lasting from Sept. 23 to Sept. 30 for better pay, the absence of the building and food service workers on campus did not go unnoticed by students, who reported issues like long lines at the dining halls.

After a Sept. 30 caucus with the union, the University originally offered a $1.00 raise the first year, with $0.85 the second year and $0.90 in the third, totaling to a raise of $2.75. The union then countered with a flat $1.00 yearly raise and an additional $500 signing bonus.

Union members reached an agreement with the University and chose to suspend the strike on Sept. 30. Workers returned to work the following day. 

“It’s a little anticlimactic,” Baldwin said. “I want to make it clear that I did not make the decision. We negotiate with the University but ultimately it is the membership that has the right to vote. It’s whatever the members choose, and that’s the important thing about a union.”

In the new contract, building and food service workers will see a $1.00 raise to their current hourly wage and a $500 bonus once the contract is processed in the coming weeks. The following year, workers will expect to see a $0.90 raise and $0.85 the year after. 

The union voted YES on Oct. 3 to accept this total raise of $2.75, the original offer from University and the $500 bonus, part of the original union counteroffer. 

According to Chapter 119 President and BSW Melody Decker, workers would have only seen a raise of $0.54 had they not gone on strike. 

The last three-year contract allowed for a total $2.50 raise was also achieved after a threat to strike and negotiations. This will make a $5.25 raise over the span of six years. 

“It is keeping up with the increases in the minimum wage; it is exceeding inflation — it is a very substantial win,” Baldwin said. 

Every summer, food service workers are subject to layoffs and are not eligible for unemployment benefits as seasonal workers. Additionally, FSWs pay the full cost of their insurance instead of their employer paying it in part. 

“These are not employees who can just afford to sit at home for three months, they live paycheck to paycheck,” Baldwin said. 

A new agreement with the University allows for select workers to return to serving food at the University over the summer, prioritizing those with seniority. This will reduce layoffs, but not necessarily eliminate the issue completely, Baldwin added.

According to Baldwin, this issue cannot be resolved with just University policy. Instead, the union will pursue the issue to the next level with hopes to change legislation.

Another new benefit for FSWs will be an automatic pay hike. According to Baldwin, starting pay will go up to the next pay rate and again after two years to the maximum rate. This will automatically apply for workers who have been employed for two years — for example, a current worker of three years will be given the highest pay grade.

This condition was already existing for BSWs, but not for FSWs. 

In a July statement by SEIU secretary-treasurer Joseph Richert, the University “fails to bargain in good faith.”

On Friday Sept. 27, according to the union, the University initially made an offer and then backed out. As a result, members were out of work without any meetings tabled for that weekend. 

“In retrospect that was a mistake,” Baldwin said. “And we won’t make that mistake again … I think we should all remember the union showed up to the bargaining table in good faith and the University chose to prolong the strike.”

He reports that in the aftermath, there is much left to do. Work logs during the strike are waiting to be processed by the union to pay members for some of their lost wages. 

To make up for this loss, community members set up a GoFundMe that received $26,728, 89% of its $30,000 goal. This was done by two faculty members from the School of Labor and Employer Relations: Professor Augustus Wood of the Campus Faculty Association and professor Stephanie Fortado of the Non-Tenured Faculty Coalition. 

“It’s really moving how much a lot of people and unions contributed a lot of money,” Baldwin said. “That’s what solidarity is all about.”

Because many members live paycheck-to-paycheck as amongst the lowest paid workers on campus, the union is challenging the University for not paying members during the strike.

“The administration is pleased the union ratified the agreement and that it is consistent with the market and making the university a good place to work,” said Robin Kaler, Associate Vice Chancellor for public affairs in a statement for IPM news.

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