The Aramark Campaign:
Aramark Worker-Student Alliance (AWSA)

About AWSA
The Aramark Worker-Student Alliance (AWSA) was a coalition of Aramark workers, student groups and individuals who worked together to demand fair working conditions for dining hall employees on campus. AWSA was formed during the spring quarter of 2008 in response to growing discontent among the dining hall workers regarding their treatment by Aramark.

Our coalition consisted of the following groups: Yalla, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Organization of Black Students (OBS), Students Organizing United with Labor (SOUL), Southside Solidarity Network, Graduate Students United (GSU), Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS), Jewish Action, Amnesty, and STAND.

Workers demanded fair hours and wages, respect from management in the workplace, and improved working conditions to ensure worker safety. For the complete list of demands, click here.

As students at the University of Chicago and the primary consumers of Aramark's product, we decided to use our unique position to effect change on campus. Our goal was to send both the university and Aramark a clear message that every person contributing to campus life deserves equitable treatment and respect. SOUL was one of the founding members of AWSA.

The Campaign
The campaign began in the Spring quarter in 2008. SOUL began by hosting "Worker Appreciation Breakfasts" in the three campus dining halls, in which SOUL members greeted the morning shift Aramark workers with muffins, banana bread and orange juice, and began talking with workers about the contract. These breakfasts continued during the first part of the quarter. The Organization of Black Students (OBS), many of whose members were close with the dining hall workers, contacted SOUL and together the groups decided to outreach to other students and groups on campus to form a wider student-worker coaltion. Thus, the Aramark Worker-Student Alliance was born. In addition to weekly student meetings, AWSA held by-weekly Saturday meetings attended by dining hall workers and students.

On Saturday, May 3rd, AWSA held its first worker-student meeting. Breaking into small groups, workers and students began to pull together a list of concerns and grievances plaguing the workplace. Among the issues discussed were those concerning wages, disregard of seniority by management when deciding hours, failure to implement wage increases mandated by the contract, constant revision of schedules, inadequate staffing, and chronic overwork. More generally, workers spoke of a blatant lack of respect by management, racial tensions in the workplace, and difficulties regarding the process for filing grievances. Students and workers began compiling the above concerns into a concrete list of demands to be presented to Aramark.

Students also began a campaign of solidarity actions, such as banner drops in all three of the dining halls and button days. A petition containing an abbreviated version of the demands was drafted, and students began collecting signatures at the dining halls and around campus. In addition to collecting over 550 signatures, the petition drive also offered an opportunity to publicize the campaign on campus and pass out solidarity buttons. As we accumulated signatures, we began to send weekly delegations of students to turn in petitions to the management office. As AWSA gained support and confidence, By the end of the academic school year we had orchestrated banner drops in all three of the dining halls and organized two well-attended rallies.

After a summertime lull, the AWSA campaign picked up momentum again in the fall of the 2008-09 school year. With the contract already in negotiation, pressure from AWSA became even more critical.

An Improved Contract
The contract was passed on January 15th by a vote of 104 to 5. A major victory of the AWSA campaign were yearly wage increases of 4%, 4%, 3%, the highest wage increases ever won by Aramark employees at the University of Chicago. Aramark had originally only offered annual wage increases of 1%. In addition to the improved wage increases, the new contract equalized the pay pay scale across the campus dining halls and set a more regulated scheduling system. Health care coverage was also made more affordable. Workers and Students, however, recognize that the contract remains far from perfect, a reminder that the fight for justice in our University is never done.

What's next?
While AWSA no longer holds active meetings, we continue to work to maintain worker-student solidarity. We believe that open and frequent communication between the students and dining hall staff is fundamental for the creation of a more just university environment that recognizes and respects the dignity and importance of every one of its members--be they students or staff. The Aramark workers' contract comes up for negotiation again in the spring of 2011.