After negotiations fail, Sodexo workers plan to expand protests

Sodexo contract negotiations failed today and hundreds more people could join the protests… Sodexo contract negotiations failed today and hundreds more people could join the protests tomorrow, a local union leader said.

Matt Painter, a spokesman for the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which represents about 200 people at Pitt, said, “There was really no movement today from Sodexo. Tomorrow morning there is going to be a rally in front of Towers. I would expect at least a few hundred people by 9 a.m.”

Sodexo’s spokeswoman could not offer more information tonight.

Today marked the second day members of the local SEIU were on strike. With no further negotiations currently scheduled, it is unclear when the protests will stop. The union represents about 200 employees on campus, many of whom work in Market Central or The Perch dining halls.

Two of the union members still went to work today despite the protests, union organizer Tim Finucan said.

The workers went on strike after talks with their employer, Sodexo, stalled last week. Contract negotiations began again this morning, Finucan said.

Sodexo, a multinational food service corporation, handles the dining services on Pitt’s campus. Pitt spokesman John Fedele said Sodexo brought in employees from other locations to fill in for the striking employees in Market and The Perch. Taco Bell on the ground floor of the Litchfield Towers remained closed for the second day straight.

Fedele said Sodexo didn’t have enough staff members to keep Taco Bell open. Sodexo representatives declined to comment earlier today beyond a statement they released yesterday, which said the union forced workers to strike, even though Sodexo had proposed a wage increase for its workers.

Most of the protesters arrived on campus around 8 a.m. today, Finucan said. At one point, there were about 130 protesters on the sidewalk on Forbes Avenue.

The protest outside Litchfield Towers had settled down by about 3 p.m. today. About a dozen purple-clad protesters sat quietly in folding chairs in the sun on the Forbes Avenue sidewalk, where yesterday several dozen protesters marched on the sidewalk outside of Litchfield Towers.

SEIU 32BJ represents about 5,000 workers in western Pennsylvania.