Outsourcing Firms Focus of Unions

Outsourcing Firms Focus of Unions
An organizing effort by service workers is expected to be a $10-million campaign.

By Nancy Cleeland, Times Staff Writer


The Service Employees International Union, which built itself into the nation's largest union by aggressively organizing janitors and home-care workers, plans to take on three fast-growing outsourcing companies in its biggest campaign ever.

Speaking at his union's quadrennial convention in San Francisco on Monday, SEIU President Andrew Stern said the companies — France's Sodexho Inc., Britain's Compass Group and Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp. — are growing at the expense of union workers, whose jobs are being contracted out.

"Today, these three companies employ 1.1 million workers and are growing so fast in cleaning, food service, laundry, transportation, maintenance and anything else that can be contracted out in schools, universities, government, office buildings, hospitals and nursing homes that in a few years they will overtake Wal-Mart in size," Stern told a cheering crowd of nearly 4,000 members. "These three global service companies — they are our Wal-Mart."

Nonunion Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest company, often is cited by union leaders as a force to lower wages and benefits in the retail sec......

http://www.latimes.com/business/careers/work/la-fi-union22jun22,1,3735880.story?coll=la-headlines-business-careers

Sheet Metal Workers IA #162

Revere, Ma.

Unions focus on Outsourcing Firms