Sodexho Workers and Supporters Speak and Walk Out of the UC Regents Meeting at the Mondavi Center in Davis

During open comment period at the UC Regents meeting at the Mondavi Senator, a throng of at least 100 supporters of the Sodexho Food Workers came to support and a smaller group of perhaps 20 spoke during public comment. These individuals included food service workers, students, ASUCD Senators, community members, and members of the Davis Faith Community.

Ivan Carrillo an ASUCD senator spoke:

"Here on campus, workers are being exploited. There are over 500 Sodexho workers, predominantly students who are not being paid comparable wages nor given the benefits of employees hired directly by the university. The biggest discrepancy is in the cost of health insurance. A full-time employee hired by Sodexho is currently charged 18 times more than a food service employee of the university. In other words, Sodexho workers are paying 95 percent more for health insurance than university employees. I've met far too many people who do not have health insurance, for themselves or their families, because they cannot afford it. It comes down to justice. I want justice for these workers, the students want justice for these workers, workers want justice, professors want justice, elected state politicians want justice, please help us bring justice."

Christopher Cabaldon was supposed to speak, but according to his representative Robbie Abalon he got called away for an emergency meeting with the Mayor of Suisun City. He will speak on behalf of the Sodexho Workers tomorrow. Mr. Abalon spoke briefly in favor of the workers efforts to become full university employees.

Guy Turner from the St. James Gospel Justice group, which brought a number of community members with them to this event, spoke as well.

"I'm embarrassed, I'm saddened to be here. To find the situation with the Sodexho workers on campus as I've heard over the past two months. I would ask that the Chancellor would possibly come out after this meeting and meet with the workers and the support group that's here."

The supporters of Sodexho were joined in solidarity by students from across the UCs who were there in support of student diversity ahead of the release of the Diversity Report.

Following public comment, the meeting was interrupted first by a lone demonstrator who shouted from the crowd. The Sodexho Workers and their supporters then briefly interrupted the meeting with a chant as they exited.

To their credit, the Regent paused with their meeting until the students left and then continued.

After the meeting I spoke with a couple of Food Service Workers. Lydia is a cook at UC Davis and a current Sodexho worker. She spoke to me in Spanish and Maria, a former Sodexho worker at the UC Santa Cruz campus helped translate and spoke to me as well about her experience of switching from Sodexho to being a full-time university employee at UC Santa Cruz.

Maria translating for Lydia said:

"She said she's been working 7 years with Sodexho. She said there's a huge difference from what she hears from workers working with the university and what she's working with Sodexho. She has only seven hours per day and instead of eight hours. And also she saw a big difference with the insurance, because she has insurance, but that's only for her own not for her kids or even for her husband. So that one is so expensive that she can't even pay for what she's getting right now. And she hears that with the university, if she's going to have insurance, it's also going to cover the kids and the husband. So for the whole family, that's why she'd like to become a worker with the university. And also with the benefits and all the kind of things that come with being a university employee."

Maria then talks about her own experience in Santa Cruz:

"I was working also with Sodexho. Well, first I was working with Mario and Sodexho. Then Mario left and Sodexho was the only company there. And I was working around eight years and it was really bad, also like we didn't have the whole benefits, like right here. And also for us it was like so hard because they'd make us work like 40 hours for like three months, and then after three months they pull again like 20 hours because that way they keep from giving us the benefits like the law says. So it was really a huge change for us in Santa Cruz because I can see after we became employees I saw the family could take the kids to the dentist. If they need glasses, they can take them to these kind of things and it was a big big change, also we had the benefits. Also we had the sick hours [with the university, but] with Sodexho we didn't have any.

I think the more important thing for us also was the respect. After we [became employees] with the university, we could fight for the respect to the managers, to the workers. Before we [could not] say anything because if we say something, we were gonna get fired. So now we can have a way to fight back with them, you know. We just need to work and if they don't show us respect, we can say something back with the union. And before, if you don't have a union, you can't really say anything because you're gonna get fired. And that's the big change that we have with the university. So I'm here to support them, because it's really important that these workers can be with the university."

Maria drove up from Santa Cruz, waking up at four in the morning to support the workers in their fight for the university.

The strong showing at the UC Regents meet is meant to put pressure on UC Davis as the only University in all of UC to still outsource their workers to the notorious union-busting company Sodexho.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting

Local Faith Based Group Among Many Standing With Sodexho Food Service Workers at UCD

Today at 8:30 am at the Mondavi center, workers, community members, and students will be confronting the Regents of the University of California at their meeting at UC Davis on Wednesday September 19. The UC Davis campus continues to be the only UC campus or medical center with a large scale contracted out workforce. This will be the first time that the Regents have held a meeting at the Davis campus in 16 years.

St. James Gospel Justice committee members in a press release urged:

"Other Davis faith-based social justice groups to join in solidarity with contracted-out food service workers at UCD in their fight to become University employees. On Wednesday September 19, 2007, 8:30 am at the Mondavi Center we will be speaking with the UC Regents to affirm the “inherent dignity” of all campus workers."

The organization from St. James Catholic Church in Davis, is committed to social justice causes. They cited in their release many unacceptable working conditions faced by the food service workers at UC Davis including under-compensated wages, inadequate health care benefits, no retirement benefits, company's past broken promises to improve wages and health benefits; and the company's replacing experienced workers with students and temp-workers to thwart legitimate desires of career workers to join the university and a union for better working conditions.

"These unacceptable working conditions are in conflict with the “inherent dignity” and “climate of justice” espoused within the University’s Principles of Community...

Gospel Justice committee members urge an early expeditious employee conversion of contracted-out food service workers to UC Davis employment. This is the real desire of all the workers and is in fact, the action that will re-establish the ethical credibility of the University's "Principles of Community"."

Today's UC Regents meeting will be the staging ground for new pressure placed on the UC Davis administration, as the only UC Campus that contracts out their food service workers.

Alma Martinez, a working student who was arrested during a protest on May 1st said:

“We are united as workers, I feel close to many of the workers as if they were my parents, and so I am very disappointed that the administration is ignoring us and disrespecting the community it is supposed to serve.”

As we recently reported, UC Davis announced an agreement with Sodexho that would improve wages and reduce healthcare costs for contracted out employees.

The workers have applauded this development as a step in the right direction, however in the end, as we suggested, this offer is not an acceptable solution to workers, students, and the community.

According to a press release from the Sodexho Food Workers and AFSCME Local 3299,

"Workers welcome improvements in their terms and conditions of employment, however, the fundamental disparity continues. If the University can make changes to the terms and conditions of employment for contracted out workers, then it can make the right change by making them direct UC employees and Union members."

Steven Ordiano, a UC Davis alum who was arrested on May 1st said:

“This just shows how out of touch the administration is with the community, since they know there are problems, but they continue to exclude those who are most affected – the workers.”

The Vanguard will be at the Mondavi Center to cover this event this morning. Stay tuned today for full coverage and updates.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting

Guest Commentary: Enacting a Living Wage in Davis to Protect and Preserve our Downtown

by Lamar Heystek

As I was poised to take office as the youngest Davis City Councilmember since Bob Black, I reaffirmed my understanding that the Davis Farmers’ Market was a prime purveyor of pungent produce – and proportionally pungent political punditry.

“Keep your eyes and ears open… and your mouth shut!” was the unsolicited nugget of wisdom flung at me by a fellow “elected” (an adjectival noun to this linguist), right as I was about to close the deal on a pound of fingerling potatoes.

She took me by so much surprise that I nearly forgot to put the “e” in potatoes.

“Could you be more explicit?” I asked in response.

However, after much careful thought, I decided to let those wise words go by the wayside in my third meeting as a councilmember when I introduced for a first reading an ordinance that would require big-box retailers to pay a living wage. And I’ve haven’t regretted it since.

My philosophy was that Davis voters deserved to know whether employees of the proposed Target would be paid justly or not. As expected, the move was derided as a political ploy to derail Measure K.

But the passage of Measure K has not discouraged me from pushing the issue further – it has encouraged me.

In the meantime, I’ve asked that we move forward with a living-wage requirement for city of Davis contracts, an idea that the rest of the Council has agreed to look into, the rationale being that our city government should lead by example.

As one of two elected officials serving on the City-Chamber of Commerce 2x2, I am a Chamber member. My campaign headquarters was located in the heart of the downtown on D Street, near Aesop’s Room and across from Crème de la Crème, a gift shop owned by Davis resident Christie Zamora. As someone commented on the Davis Wiki, “Christie… is the epitome of customer service with an amazing attention to detail. When you are in her beautiful shop, you feel like in are in a different world. We are very happy she is in Davis!” And I was fortunate to have her as a neighbor. I had the pleasure of observing her business and interacting with her on a daily basis. Although I currently don’t frequent her shop as often as I used to, I still pray that she stays in business. And as a councilmember, I certainly can help her do so.

People who dismiss the concept of a “big-box” living wage ordinance mislabel it as an anti-business measure, when in fact it is just the opposite. The ordinance I proposed last year would protect scores of local retailers – the heart and soul of our neighborhoods, including the downtown – who otherwise would find it a Herculean task to compete with the likes of Target.

As Chicago Alderman Joe Moore writes in a letter printed in the Chicago Sun-Times, “[a] visit to many of America’s small and medium towns reveals the devastating effect the retail giants have on other businesses. Downtown businesses districts often become virtual ghost towns after a Wal-Mart or other big-box retailer comes to town.”

However, the impact of big-box retail on local economies is not merely an issue for cities the size of ours. Alderman Moore continues by citing a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development, which concludes that a Wal-Mart on Chicago’s West Side “would actually cost our city more jobs than it creates. This is because big-box retail stores rarely expand the total amount of sales generated in densely populated urban markets. Instead, the new stores take away customers from existing retailers, causing those retailers to scale back operations or close altogether.”

Big-box businesses benefit from economies of scale, which enable retailers like Target to “underprice their competitors and drive them out of business,” as Alderman Moore points out. “But the fact that many of these big-box retailers pay their employees subsistence wages and benefits plays an equal if not greater role.”

My proposed big-box living wage ordinance, like Alderman Moore’s, strives to level the playing field by making large retailers pay decent wages and benefits so that employees can provide for their families and afford to live in the community they are serving, while at the same time helping to protect locally-owned small businesses.

Besides the “anti-business” angle, there are a variety of arguments against a living wage ordinance. Davis Enterprise columnist Rich Rifkin, whom I deeply respect, writes, “If Councilman Heystek’s ambition is to help low-paid workers who are trying to support their families, he should forget his living wage ordinance and push for a more generous EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit).” I took the latter of Mr. Rifkin’s advice: I phoned and wrote to President Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and our federal legislators, asking them to consider expanding the EITC in major tax bills in the future. However, I believe that an important role of our local government is to provide local solutions to local problems. Failing to do so would mean shirking our responsibility as local decision makers.

Alderman Moore concludes his letter by making the following observation: “Competition and low prices certainly are good things, but the competition should be fair and the low prices should not come at the expense of decent wages and benefits for working families.”

A nugget of wisdom indeed.

Lamar Heystek was elected to the Davis City Council in 2006. He will have a monthly column on the People's Vanguard of Davis.

John Ferrera Announces Bid For 4th Supervisorial Seat

Yesterday evening at his home with his wife, family, and a throng of supporters made up of community leaders, friends, and other members of the community, John Ferrera formally announced his intentions to run for the 4th Supervisorial Seat currently held by Mariko Yamada. Mr. Ferrera, currently the Chief of Staff to State Senator Denise Ducheny, was introduced by Supervisor Helen Thomson, Davis' other representative on the Board of Supervisors.

In addition to Supervisor Thomson, John Ferrera is endorsed locally by Mayor Pro Tem Ruth Asmundson, City Councilmember Stephen Souza, Former School Board Member Marty West, and State Senator Mike Machado. Other community leaders attending the event included Councilmember Don Saylor, Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto, and School Board Member Keltie Jones, among others.

In his release, Mr. Ferrera stated:

The Yolo County General Plan process will most likely spill over into 2009, when the next supervisor assumes the 4th District seat. "I plan on being completely up to speed and ready to hit the ground running if I'm elected to the Board. There's no time to waste and I believe I owe it to my constituents and the other Board members to get to work right away finishing and implementing the new General Plan."

John Ferrera spoke briefly to the crowd of around 50 people.

"I've worked on the issues that we need to deal with over the next 25 years to keep Yolo County the way we love it to be. A place where we protect the environment, a place where we protect open space, a place where we respect agriculture and the people who toil in it every day like Marc Wilson who I really appreciate...

We can scream at each other and try to ignore the fact that we might grow a little bit. It's not something that any of us would choose but if we don't embrace those issues and deal with them intelligently and use experience on how to do things right then we will get overtaken. If we work together, then we'll do well and we'll be able to preserve what we love about our community and about our county."

John Ferrera joins Davis School Board President Jim Provenza who announced his intention to seek the 4th Supervisorial District back in March.

Jim Provenza in a statement to the Vanguard, said:

"I am pleased to welcome John into the race. I look forward to a discussion of issues of importance to Davis and Yolo County citizens, such as the role of a county supervisor in protecting farm land, preserving the environment and assuring that seniors and young people will have the services they need to lead healthy and happy lives."

The race to succeed Mariko Yamada, who is running for the 8th Assembly District, will pit the two Davis Supervisors against each other as well with Supervisor Thomson supporting John Ferrera and Supervisor Yamada supporting Jim Provenza.

Supervisor Yamada has endorsed Provenza describing him as filling the needs of Yolo County.

"Jim has the intelligence, integrity, and independence to be a great Yolo County Supervisor. He’s the right fit for the District and Yolo County."

Supervisor Thomson described Ferrera as experienced with a good disposition and demeanor as well as a strong sense of humor and strong convictions all which will be needed during times of intense debate over policy issues.

John Ferrera described Yolo County as a beautiful place to live between two large and growing areas and vowed to preserve our quality of life.

"We are in the middle of two quickly growing areas, Sacramento and the Bay Area. Yolo is a beautiful place to live. The county plays a pivotal role in maintaining that quality of life by guiding our land use and local economic development. I've learned a lot in 20 years of working on these issues, and bringing together diverse groups to reach their goals. It takes leadership, creativity and vision."

The Vanguard will be interviewing John Ferrera later on this week and publish that interview right here.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting