Employees of Chartwells Higher Education, UF’s campus food provider, are working to form a union after months of turmoil. Unaddressed grievances concerning sudden summer layoffs, inadequate pay and an unprofessional work environment spurred employees to officially announce their unionization effort July 10.
In May, 63 associates were laid off, leaving employees who assumed they’d have a summer job scrambling to make ends meet.
Employees relying on food stamps and unemployment said attempts to communicate with Chartwells HR were futile, and a petition they drafted in the fall went nowhere.
Employees also alleged Chartwells reneged on their promise to raise wages to $15 an hour upon signing a contract with UF in 2022. The university partnered with Chartwells after ending its 13-year contract with Aramark, the previous campus food provider, which students protested on the grounds of poor working conditions and unfair wages.
Chartwells “quietly reduced” the starting wage to $13 an hour and $12 an hour for foreign student visa workers, according to a Reddit post made by an employee’s son, who requested anonymity in fear of retribution.
The post said management abuses and retaliatory measures against employees who spoke out were the “final straws,” including an employee meeting during which they “threatened [employees] with termination or cut hours if they found out they were part of the union effort.”
Robin Lalande, a Cravings Campus Kitchen supervisor, has spearheaded the fight against Chartwells ever since she was laid off for Summer A and went weeks without any source of income. The company uses intimidation tactics to discourage employees from forming a union, she said.
“Right now everybody is scared,” Lalande said. “They’re scared to open up their mouth because of losing their job.”
Intimidation is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act, which guarantees employees the right to form a union and prevents employers from interfering with that right. The National Labor Relations Board also stipulates that “employers may not respond to a union organizing drive by threatening, interrogating, or spying on pro-union employees.”
Lalande said she hopes to mobilize employees who are afraid to speak up, sharing potential plans to lead a protest if the issue goes unresolved.
“We need our employees to wake up,” she said. “We’re still not backing off.”
Lalande and a few other employees have maintained contact with union advisors who will guide them through the initial stages of union formation, and as of July 21, they gathered 135 petition signatures.
“This is very, very important to just us and everybody,” she said. “So many people need a union that they don’t even know they need.”
This isn’t the first time university dining hall workers under Chartwells have attempted to unionize. In 2012, employees at the University of Miami pushed for a union with demands for higher pay and increased benefits. They successfully joined the Service Employees International Union in 2013 after narrowly avoiding a strike. Employees and students at UM spoke of intimidation tactics similar to those UF Chartwells employees have alleged.
William Quinones, a former Chartwells line cook at UF, said he left the company over its refusal to address his complaints. Scheduled meetings with HR never took place and management pushed him and others to serve students rotting, expired food.
“Why continue working for a company where you’re not valued or heard?” he said.
Quinones said Chartwells workers were “getting exploited,” overworked, underpaid and told to keep quiet about workplace issues. He received several texts and emails threatening automatic termination if he or any other employee were caught speaking to the press or discussing the union, he said.
“Everyone [is scared] for their jobs,” he said. “That’s why no one [says] anything, because it's either they start to pick on you or treat you unfairly.”
Quinones said while he thinks the union is a good step, he’s not sure how effective it will be.
“The change needs to come from with inside the company,” he said. “The work environment needs to get better.”
A Chartwells spokesperson didn’t respond to The Alligator’s request for comment, instead providing a statement on behalf of Florida Fresh Dining. Florida Fresh Dining Vice President of Operations Brian Dagnall wrote the team prioritizes “open dialog” and is “committed to maintaining a positive and supportive work environment for all.”
“Both here and at campuses across the country, we have a long history of listening to our associates and working with them to do what’s best,” he said. “[We] encourage proactive communications with all associates to address any concerns and work together to find solutions.”
Susan Paez, a Gator Corner Dining Center employee who was also laid off for Summer A, said she is one of several employees Chartwells management has attempted to intimidate by isolating her from other employees. Others were told they would be fired if they spoke to her, she said.
“A union would have stepped in a month ago, two months ago and would already have fixed it,” she said.
Paez and other employees have received community support from Wells Fargo and the Reitz Union Barbershop, she said.
The UF Young Democratic Socialists of America have also publicly voiced their support and expressed interest in helping the union effort. However, UF YDSA Membership Director Nelson Calles declined to comment on behalf of the organization.
Paez said she was pleased with the unionization effort, which is “moving along very swiftly.” She’s hopeful a union will be formed by December or early January.
“I don’t want to go through another summer like this,” Paez said. “[The union] is not for tonight or tomorrow, it’s for the next 10 years for all these workers.”
Contact Grace McClung at gmcclung@alligator.org. Follow her on X @gracenmclung
Grace McClung is a third-year journalism major and the graduate & professional school reporter for The Alligator. In her free time, Grace can be found running, going to the beach and writing poetry.
