Sodexo, SEIU reach contract agreement

Food service workers at Pitt have agreed to a three-year contract with Sodexo, the international… Food service workers at Pitt agreed to a three-year contract with Sodexo today, less than two weeks before classes start.

The contract agreement comes after more than six months of negotiations and almost four months after unionized food workers at Pitt went on a campus-wide strike coordinated by the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ.

Under the new contract, workers will receive a $1.40 raise over the next three years. Sodexo, the international company that runs food services on campus, will also pay more toward health care premiums, covering as much as 90 percent for some workers.

About 200 of the nearly 300 Sodexo employees at Pitt are part of SEIU local 32BJ.

In late March, SEIU brought charges against Sodexo through the National Labor Relations Board — a federal labor review board — alleging that Sodexo intimidated and harassed workers to prevent them from joining a union.

The board has investigated the allegations and will conclude the investigation soon, said Robert Chester, the board’s regional director.

In April, negotiations stalled between Sodexo and the union. The disputed terms of the contract at the time included a 90 cent-an-hour raise over three years and reduced health care benefits for the union workers.

Union workers organized a strike in the last week of April to protest those stalled contract negotiations.

Workers lined parts of Forbes Avenue in the early hours of the morning each day of the strike — which happened during Pitt’s spring semester finals week.

Sodexo spokesman Aflred King said in a statement, “Sodexo now looks forward to the beginning of the new school year and continuing to provide excellent service to the students and members of the University of Pittsburgh community.”