Service workers in H.P. schools rally for wages, safety

On Wednesday, October 6th, public school service workers, representatives from local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and their local supporters gathered at Highland Park's Borough Hall to mark the workers' first one-day strike against the multinational corporation, Sodexo.

Sodexo, the nation's leading provider of food and facilities management, has a profound presence in Highland Park as a contracted provider of custodial and maintanence services to the public school district.

However, recent accusations that Sodexo does not provide its employees with a safe working environment, nor the proper tools to perform their duties, have drawn negative attention towards the company.

This past July, Sodexo was fined over $8000. by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for nine serious safety hazards that endangered both employees and students in the South Plainfield School District.

Since then, employees of Sodexo in Highland Park claim to have been directed by Sodexo not to contact OSHA or the SEIU union, in clear violation of their workers rights.

On this autumn afternoon, Sodexo workers of Highland Park made sure their demands could not be ignored any longer.

From Borough Hall to the Highland Park High School, strikers and sympathizers chanted, “Clean up Sodexo,” “No Justice, No Peace,” and “Sodexo eschucha, estamos en la Lucha (Sodexo listen, we are in the struggle).” Once at the high school, marchers listened as several employees shared their experiences, calling for better working conditions, wages and health benefits.

Adam Baehr, a Sodexo employee living in New Brunswick, expressed his difficulty at trying to make a living while earning only $8.50 per hour. Other Sodexo employees earn as little as $7.75 per hour, making health coverage for these working families not even an option.

"[I live) paycheck to paycheck,” Baehr stated, “and it's sad that [Sodexo] treats their employees like this: we do all the work, while they get the bonuses at Christmas.”

Eddie Hernandez, a landscaper for Highland Park's public schools, spoke at the march about the complaints and demands that he said have consistantly gone ignored.

Sodexo Director of Public Relations Alfred King argues that Sodexo's pay and benefits “are very competitive among employers in the area for this type of work.” King also claims that Sodexo offers a range of affordable benefits to their employees and the most popular plan only costs about $22 a week.

The rally on the high school lawn as classes were dismissed for the day drew people's attention and the support of passers-by, both adult and teenaged. They sang, carried signs and passed out fliers urging Highland Park's community to take action.

Kay Tsurumy, a local member of the Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War, felt compelled to support the march.

“It's almost like 1910, with the Carnegies and the Rockefellers; the only thing that's changed is the end of the sixteen-hour workday,” Tsurumy commented. But she worries that even the sixteen-hour workday has started to re-emerge, this time in the form of people having to hold two or even three jobs for lack of a better salary.

In a printed statement, SEIU's Area Director Kevin Brown stated, “It’s deeply disturbing that Sodexo is using taxpayer dollars to keep workers from standing up for better, safer jobs. Workers shouldn’t have to suffer while multi-billion dollar companies like Sodexo keep getting richer.”