Socialist Action /May 2001
Youth in Action
New Orleans students aid drive to unionize
workers
By DAVID BERNT
Seventy cafeteria workers at the University of
New Orleans are in a fierce battle to win the right to organize into a union.
Local 166 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union have
been organizing the workers for the past year. The workers are employees
of Aramark, a subcontractor that runs the university's food services.
Management has refused to hold an election and
intimidated workers for asserting their right to organize. Workers are demanding
that they be allowed to organize into a union so that they can bargain for
higher wages and benefits. Currently, workers earn $5.21-$5.57 per hour
with no benefits.
The workers have not received a raise since last
year, when management raised wages a measly 7¢-21¢ per hour. Last
year's increase was the first increase in over three years.
The workers' struggle for a union has been enhanced
by the participation of students at the university, organized as a chapter
of the United Students Against Sweatshops. Student participation has helped
pressure the company and the university. Workers have held meetings in students'
houses and helped organize student support for union recognition.
The union filed for a union election in February.
Aramark has refused to meet with the union and NLRB officials, claiming
that the union is not a legitimate labor organization. On several occasions,
the company has forced workers to sit through meetings with anti-union speakers
and presentations.
On March 15 the workers held a sick-out, which
resulted in the closing of over half of university food services for the
day. The next day, 10 workers and 25 students approached management, demanding
that they hold a union election. Management again refused, infuriating the
workers.
On April 4, students held a boycott of food services
in solidarity with the cafeteria workers. The students shut down half of
Aramark's operation on that day. After the boycott, university police began
harassing students, questioning them about their organizing efforts.
The university then pressed charges against one
of the student leaders, Robert Caldwell, a student at the University of
New Orleans. The university alleged that Caldwell had attacked managers
of Aramark. The university charged him with "participating in campus
demonstrations that disrupt university operation," "breaking and
entering" into the cafeteria (despite the fact that he is a student
at the university), and "endangering the safety of the university."
The bogus charges were intended to frighten the students from organizing
in solidarity with university employees.
Student support for the organizing campaign has
given the workers a powerful tool in combating the Aramark bosses. Dan Lutz,
a student at nearby Tulane University and an active supporter of the campaign,
said, "The workers are more militant when they know that students are
behind them."
The strong support for labor by the students and
cafeteria workers has had a ripple effect on the university. Workers throughout
the Louisiana university system are under attack as it continues to layoff
workers in efforts to privatize services.
Caldwell told Socialist Action, "Workers here
are upset by the university's attack on workers. Several departments have
been privatized over the past couple of years, and the workers were let
go without any severance package. Now the university is talking about privatizing
several more departments-including housing, groundskeeping, student health
care services, and the book store. With the struggle against Aramark, other
workers are seeing the potential strength of a union. Workers across the
university are talking union."
The workers are going to continue their efforts,
and the students intend to continue their solidarity work. The example of
student-labor solidarity work at the University of New Orleans is a model
for how the United Students Against Sweatshops and other pro-labor student
groups can concretely assist the struggles of working people.
For information on how to help the University
of New Orleans organizing drive, e-mail dlutz1934@yahoo.com.
University of Wisconsin/Superior throws
YSA off campus
By ADAM RITSCHER
On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 25, while
trying to hold a forum on "Police Brutality and the Role of Police
in Society" at the University of Wisconsin/Superior, Youth for Socialist
Action was thrown off campus by Police Officer M. Bodin and Hattie Crass,
the head of SUFAC (Segregated University Fees Allocations Council).
Shortly before the meeting was to begin, the two
stormed down the stairs. Officer Bodin proceeded to begin ranting about
the 20 years he spent in the Navy "defending our freedom" and
how he had the right to free expression. He then suggested that if we were
so keen on socialism we get out of the United States and go to a socialist
country.
Then Crass, after patting Officer Bodin on the
back, ordered us off campus and demanded that we remove any flyers or literature
of ours posted on campus. She stated that since we were not a recognized
student group we had no right to hold such "offensive" meetings.
We explained to Officer Bodin that we weren't denying
him his right to free speech, but rather he was participating in the denial
of ours. We then told Crass that we had previously gone to the student government
office and asked how to go about holding meetings and finding people interested
in our group if we aren't recognized yet.
The student government said we should just throw
up some flyers and meet in a lounge or someplace similar and see if anyone
came. And that is exactly what we were doing. No matter, we were told, whoever
gave us that information was probably unaware of the "offensiveness"
and "ruckus" we were planning to infect the campus with.
When we tried to explain that with all of the recent
stories of police brutality on the news, and the events in Cincinnati, people
everywhere were talking about this, we were told that these things "didn't
happen in Superior, now get off campus!"
As we started packing up our stuff and taking down
our posters, three students passing by came to our defense and asked that
we not take down the material and make the job of the police and administration
any easier. We agreed.
We then headed over to the College of St. Scholastica
in Duluth, Minn., where we set up a table and proceeded to tell everyone
who would listen what had just happened. Everyone we talked to was outraged,
and a number of students shared stories about run-ins they had had with
police.
Later, we went to the University of Minnesota at
Duluth to give our scheduled 7 p.m. talk on police brutality. We had a great
meeting and great discussion. One campus police officer walked by at one
point, but made no attempt to intervene.
For our part, Youth for Socialist Action intends
to approach the student senate at UW Superior first thing this coming fall
semester to get formal recognition. We intend to aggressively challenge
any attempts to deny recognition to us or the right to hold peaceful meetings.
If need be, we will form a free speech defense committee to fight for our
rights.
UW Superior is a state university, a public institution,
which sets as its goals the serving of the community, providing access to
ideas and information, participating in the development of an informed and
educated community. That, however, is not what happened on April 25.
Socialist Action /May 2001 |