Food services workers step up protest
Scores of food services workers marched in front of Boston's two main convention centers yesterday, launching a three-day strike to protest what they consider unfair labor practices.
The strike, which began yesterday and will continue through tomorrow, encouraged weekend convention-goers to express solidarity by going without their mainstays: coffee, sandwiches, and snacks.
About 30 unionized workers of the concession giant Aramark Corp. picketed outside the Hynes Convention Center yesterday as thousands streamed inside for the Health and Fitness Expo, a two-day conference offering health screenings, fitness advice, and healthful cooking instructions. Dozens of other workers stood outside the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, which today will be hosting the 44th annual meeting of the Drug Information Association.
They wore bright red shirts, shook coin-filled containers, and yelled chants like, "Aramark, rich and rude, we don't like your attitude!"
"We don't get the respect that we deserve from management," said Nancy Manning, who has been working for Aramark since 1996 and wants benefits, including health insurance, a pension plan, and competitive wages.
The workers, who are members of UNITE HERE Local 26, are protesting as part of a contract dispute and say that Aramark has engaged in a pattern of punishing workers for union activities. The union, which has about 400 members, has been without a contract since October.
Union representatives have argued that their previous contract was based on a sparse convention calendar, where food services only needed temporary and part-time workers. Because business has increased, the union argues, the contract should treat the workers as permanent employees, with health insurance and other benefits.
Aramark representatives did not return several calls and e-mails yesterday seeking comment.
Two members of the union's bargaining committee, Carolyn Donovan and Theresa Kelley, were fired by Aramark for engaging in union activities, union officials say. Aramark told the Globe last week that Donovan, who was let go in October, and Kelley, a coffee server released earlier this year, were fired for reasons unrelated to their union advocacy.
Management alleges that Donovan struck another employee, while Donovan says that they were having an animated discussion but that she did not hit the other employee.
Kelley, a 47-year-old Dorchester resident, alleges that she was fired because she was taking photographs of nonunion workers who union officials believed were being trained to replace unionized workers. Her firing is the subject of a formal complaint that is awaiting a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board.
"Employees here are like a family. We work together and we stand together," Kelley said yesterday as she stood outside the Boston convention center. "I just hope that Aramark will do what's right for the employees."
Aramark is a Philadelphia-based catering and food services company with 250,000 employees in 19 countries. In addition to the Boston convention centers, the company provides food and beverage service for Fenway Park, although those workers have a different contract and are not part of the current dispute.
UNITE HERE spokesman Stephen Crawford said they were not asking convention-goers to refuse to cross picket lines, but were asking them to boycott Aramark services inside. The request was met with mixed results and patrons inside still lined up to by fruit, sandwiches, and drinks at a food stand run by servers who said they were working temporarily for the event.
"We see there are a variety of people from a variety of backgrounds. It's working class," said Kati Mack, a native Albanian who said she would support the strikers by not buying food in the convention center. "These are the people who suffer the most and they don't have a voice so they have to strike to be heard."
Others were less sympathetic.
"I thought it was rather disruptive," said Donna Desrosiers, as she walked out of the health expo at the Hynes. "And because of that I didn't stop to listen to them."
In a move to show solidarity with the union, the National Association of Letter Carriers decided not to use food service for a major convention next month at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The president of the letter carriers union, William Young, said that the opening reception has been canceled and all breakfast functions will be held at other venues. Food and beverages won't be available at workshop sessions during the July 21-25 convention, which nearly 9,000 delegates are expected to attend and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama might speak.
"Our members could not enjoy their bacon and eggs, sandwiches, and sodas knowing that the workers serving them were being denied basic workplace benefits accorded similar workers in others parts of Boston," Young said last week in a statement.
Globe correspondent Ryan Kost contributed to this report. 