Service union pushes school workers to organize

As part of a national campaign to swell their ranks by about 100,000 workers, union members have waged a battle against a private company that provides food and cleaning services for 29 suburban schools.

Members of the local Service Employees International Union plan to present a report to more than a dozen area school boards this week blasting Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp.

Aramark employs about 1,200 non-unionized workers in suburban elementary and high schools. In total, about 4,300 food service and janitorial employees in the suburbs work for private contractors and are not represented by a union, according to the Service Employees International Union's statistics.

The report, which focuses on districts in Carpentersville and Lake Zurich, accuses the company of providing students with sugary and fatty foods at inflated prices and maintaining unsanitary facilities.

The report also criticizes Aramark for paying workers just over minimum wage and failing to provide them with health insurance.

A spokeswoman from Aramark dismissed the criticisms as a standard move out of the union play book.

"These sorts of allegations and misinformation are often part of such corporate campaigns," Aramark spokeswoman Kristine Grow said.

About 30 percent of Aramark's hourly workers already belong to unions, Grow said, and the company supports workers' rights to organize. But union representatives want to force the company to accept provisions that make it even easier for unions to exert influence over workers who haven't organized, Grow said.

The provisions prohibit employers from discouraging workers from joining a union. And they allow workers to organize through a sign-up process rather than by secret ballot.

"These unions want to go in and ensure the companies remain silent," Grow said.

Union spokeswoman Erica Hade said the union hasn't made any demands -- yet.

"At this point the workers are just trying to get their issues out there," Hade said. "They're worried their schools aren't clean enough and the food they're serving isn't healthy for kids."

Hade said some suburban workers approached the union, but the union also has been "reaching out to workers throughout the suburbs."

In January, union officials also petitioned Kane County board members to consider dropping Aramark as the food service vendor for the Kane County jail.

The union and Unite Here, which represents about 450,000 workers, kicked off a cross-country campaign against Aramark in November. Aramark workers in Philadelphia, Houston, New York and Connecticut have participated in protests against their employer.