On September 22, Northwestern dining hall workers voted to authorize a strike against their employer, Compass Group. In the two weeks since, negotiations have continued to stall, and student organizers have worked to prepare both workers and other students for if, or when, a strike occurs.
ALEX HARRISON, REPORTER: For more than two years, Northwestern’s dining hall and café staff have worked without a valid contract. Now, they may go on strike to win one.
VALENTINA ESPINOSA, COMPASS WORKER: “I don’t know for how long we are gonna stay fighting with the company, but I’m ready to go to strike.”
HARRISON: Dining workers represented by the union UNITE HERE Local 1 voted to authorize a strike on September 22nd, with 95% approval. These workers technically aren’t Northwestern staff; instead, they are employed by the company Compass Group to work as subcontractors for the University. Since the contract expired, and all the way through to today, UNITE HERE has demanded Compass provide higher wages, health insurance, employment security, and other benefits to the workers. But up to the day of the vote, and even beyond it, every meeting between union reps and Compass has ended without a deal.
ABBEY ZHU, SOLR ORGANIZER: “Typically, negotiations – you’re supposed to be able to come to something, right? But Compass and Northwestern just have refused to offer substantial improvements to workers.”
HARRISON: This is Abbey Zhu, a Weinberg senior and organizer with Students Organizing for Labor Rights, or SOLR. Since 2018, SOLR has raised funds and advocated for the dining staff, often working directly with the union to provide support. Zhu said despite workers’ demands being basic, they’ve only been met with stonewalling.
ZHU: “Yeah, each time workers and the union have gone to the table, Northwestern and Compass just have not given them a contract that meets the demands and needs of the workers. And workers want a living wage, and they want guaranteed health insurance coverage, because they know during the pandemic that Northwestern and Compass abandoned them, essentially.”
HARRISON: Zhu is referring to September 2020, when Compass declined to extend health insurance benefits given to laid-off workers during the pandemic. This came after more than 100 dining workers were rehired ahead of the 2020 through 21 school year, only to be laid off again when the university abruptly cancelled on-campus housing for first and second years.
The loss of insurance later extended to active employees, too: according to a report published by UNITE HERE in September, Compass changed its policy on providing health benefits this year, and in February 2021, quote, “Compass did not pay for health insurance for 74 out of 260 active full-time employees that month.” This is especially dangerous, the union argues, because of the outsized rate of COVID infections among workers: a union survey found that 19% of Compass employees at Northwestern had tested positive for COVID since March 2020, compared to 11% of Chicagoans and 6% of Evanstonians.
The report also found that the average annual wage for a Northwestern Compass employee in 2019 was just under $28,000, and that 58% of employees do not make enough money to pay their bills. McCormick sophomore Marcos Rios said this shows a lack of respect for dining staff from Northwestern, who chooses to subcontract through Compass.
MARCOS RIOS, CONCERNED STUDENT: “We have students who are making more money doing undergraduate research than the dining hall workers, who comprise an essential part of university operations. At the core of it, it’s basic human rights: do they have enough money to pay for rent, for food, for a place to sleep, for a place to live? They are crucial to the university, how can we not value them more?”
HARRISON: When requested for comment, Northwestern’s Associate Vice President for Communications Jon Yates told WNUR News, quote, “The associates represented by the union are vital members of the Northwestern community, and Compass is a trusted partner to the University. We understand the importance of the ongoing contract negotiations between the union representing the food service workers and their employer, Compass. We hope for a swift and equitable resolution to these negotiations.” Compass representative Sophia Bamiatzis did not respond to a request for comment.
Since the strike authorization vote passed, SOLR has been at work rallying support for the workers and the union. They released a petition on September 24th, and passed out pins with the design “I heart campus workers” on them on September 29th. Rios volunteered to help pass out some of those pins, and said he was surprised at the turnout they garnered from students.
RIOS: “When I started passing out the pins, I did not expect such excitement from other students. I even had, after I posted on my story, I had some students DMing me, ‘Hey where can I get one?’, ‘Hey, they ran out, is there anywhere else I can get one?’ And there’s a lot of students still, who still want pins, even though we ran out across campus.”
HARRISON: As part of their effort, SOLR facilitated a conversation between students and a Compass employee on Tuesday, hosted and co-sponsored by the University Christian Ministry. Valentina Espinoza, a 17-year employee of Compass who works at the Allen Center, spoke to around 40 students about the negotiations and possible strike. Espinoza’s first language is Spanish, and some of her answers were translated for the students by School of Comms. first-year Juan Barrera. She said she came to the discussion from another negotiating session between Compass and the union, which once again appeared to be going nowhere.
ESPINOSA: “We are stuck with the negotiation. One of the negotiations is today – like I assume it is, they[Compass] came with nothing, again. So we are wasting more time. I don’t know for how long we are gonna stay fighting with the company, but I’m ready to go to strike.”
HARRISON: Although a strike is still not guaranteed, Espinoza said the union has been preparing the dining staff for one in the near future should negotiations continue to fail.
ESPINOSA: “So now we are in the, working with the people inside, to prepare them for the strike. I can’t say we are going right now to the strike, but we are preparing for that.”
HARRISON: She added that Compass was already preparing for the strike as well.
JUAN BARRERA, TRANSLATING FOR ESPINOSA: “Even though they have not started striking, Compass has already started bringing temporal [temporary] people to replace them.”
HARRISON: Should the workers go on strike, SOLR plans to support them in several ways, including raising money to replace lost wages and rallying students to stand on the picket line. For now, though, the situation remains deadlocked. Espionza told students that in this moment, the best way to support the dining staff is to talk to them, and give solidarity and encouragement verbally.
ESPINOSA: “It’s very important that you tell that worker, ‘You have to be strong. We are with you guys.’ We see, we notice you are here and you are helping us. But it’s important for us to hear that the people stand with us.”
HARRISON: From Evanston, Illinois, this is Alex Harrison, WNUR News.
