House cafeteria workers get better pay, protections under union deal

Source: Roll Call

Posted April 30, 2024 at 6:30am


A little over a year ago, House cafeteria workers with Unite Here Local 23 were contemplating protests and pickets if negotiations with Sodexo turned sour. Now, they’re celebrating a new contract that raises wages and improves working conditions. “It started out, we were all thinking it was going to be tough,” said Rickie Toon, who has worked on the Hill since the 1980s and currently is a cook in the Ford House Office Building.

But that quickly changed. Student protesters from Howard University, as well as union members from other locals, gathered outside a bargaining meeting last year, early in the negotiation process. That set the tone for relatively quick talks that delivered the cafeteria workers — who keep Congress fed — a series of wins.

“Just to see the support from other people coming in and helping us out. The company had no choice but to listen,” said Toon, a member of the unit’s bargaining committee. Notable in the new contract, which was ratified last month and applies to around 100 House cafeteria workers, is a $3 hourly pay bump in the first year and a raise of $7.50 over five years. By the end of the contract term, the lowest starting non-tipped wage will be $24.15 an hour.

“Even in D.C. that’s still not enough, as far as the cost of living, but what’s really important to our folks is that they’ll get free health insurance for the first time. That’s huge,” said Marlene Patrick-Cooper, president of Unite Here Local 23. Sodexo did not respond to a request for comment.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2024/04/30/house-cafeteria-workers-union-deal/