By Theresa Schliep and Cate Carrejo

Following the recent change in food service providers at Fordham, Sandy Pope, a Teamsters 818 Union representative of Fordham’s food service workers, told The Fordham Ram that new food service provider Aramark will maintain Fordham University’s current food service employees as long as they pass background checks. However, Pope clarified that the contracts are not yet finalized.

“It is not over yet. We are told signatures are on the line,” said Pope. “We have a very democratic procedure, people need to vote.”

After a nearly five month bidding process, Fordham announced on Monday that the Aramark Corporation, commonly known as Aramark, will become the university’s new food service provider. The 10 year multi-million dollar contract will begin on July 1, 2016 and will replace the current agreement in place with Sodexo.

A community-wide email from Jeffrey Grey, senior vice president for student affairs, announced the change on Monday afternoon, stating:
“Aramark received high marks for its proposed program elements, site visits by committee members to Aramark dining locations, fair treatment of employees and commitment to work with unions, sustainability practices, financial stability and a solid transition plan. Aramark also received very good recommendations from universities the firm currently serves.”
Karen Culter, vice president of corporate communications at Aramark, provided the following comment to The Fordham Ram:

“We are very appreciative of the opportunity to participate in the process and honored to be selected to partner with such a prestigious university like Fordham. We are excited and look forward to serving the entire campus community.”
Concern over the fate of Fordham food service workers began when the university issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on Dec. 4, 2015. While the university strongly recommended that a possible new food service provider maintain current employership and contracts that Sodexo had made with the food service employees, they did not require it. The food service provider is responsible for the hiring of employees.

Groups like Fordham Students United (FSU), Fordham Faculty United and Fordham Alumni for Change expressed solidarity with the employees through social media, online petitions and teach-ins.

FSU held a teach in on March 2 in which Sodexo employees expressed their passions for and commitments to their work in the various dining establishments at the university.

The group also sent a petition with 451 signatures to Gray. The contract sought to “ensure that the jobs, wages, health, pension and other benefits of our fellow community members continue to be as good as what they currently enjoy.”

Approximately 225 Sodexo union employees on Fordham’s Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses were covered by a collective bargaining agreement with Sodexo until 2020, according to Teamsters 810.

According to previous information provided by Vice President of Student Affairs Jeffrey Gray, vendors are encouraged to interview and retain employees of good standing. Both RFPs acknowledge that the vendor is responsible for all employment matters.

Students said they hope that the workers, like some at the cafeteria front desk and others at specific stations in the Marketplace, will be able to stay in the Fordham community.

“It’s not their fault that the food is bad,” said Sophie Haas, FCRH ‘18. “They’re being given a bad product.”

Others see Sodexo workers as a staple to campus life.

“They’re part of our community,” Kate Wolper, FCRH ‘18, said.
FSU representative Mohan Seshadri, FCRH stressed the importance of a finalized contract to ensure the future of the food service workers’ employment.

“FSU is pleased to hear that the union is being respected and the contract will stay virtually the same, especially for the plan to keep all the workers and preserve their hours and seniority,” said Seshadri. “However, it’s still crucial to get all of this in writing before we can truly trust that our food service workers are being properly supported and treated fairly.”

Alex Farah, FCRH ‘16, president of the Commuter Students Association, feels confident that the vast majority of the current food service workers’ jobs will not be affected.

“I sat in the presentations, [and] all three companies said that their retention rate in the end is 98 percent, so I’m not worried about it. You have to think about it like this: if they were to get rid of all the employees, they wouldn’t know where anything was when Aramark takes over on July 1.”

According to Pope, Aramark intends to honor most of the contract stipulations made between Sodexo and Fordham for food service workers, such as summer pay, family health care benefits and seniority.

The only issue between Aramark and contract negotiators is employee pensions. Pope said that Aramark is going to propose an “equivalent retirement plan in terms of monetary value,” but declined further comment.

Pope attributed the continuation of the stipulations from the previous contract to student support for the employees.

“We are very happy and extremely grateful to the students and faculty and whoever else was involved,” said Pope. “I think they made a huge difference”
Fordham issued an RFP for the food service contract shortly after announcing Sodexo’s contract termination.

Bidders that submitted proposals included Sodexo, Compass Group, Aramark Corporation and CulinArt Group.

Some students felt the communication between the university and the student body was insufficient during the RFP process.

“I didn’t hear anything about [the RFP],” said Lizzie Purnell, GSB ‘19. “I feel like we should have been able to have some kind of say in the matter.”
“We were the ones complaining about it in the first place,” said Amanda Belanger, FCRH ‘19. “We’re the ones who have to eat it.”

According to Aramark’s 2016 Fact Sheet, the company provides food services to over 1,500 colleges, universities and K-12 school districts. The company operates in 21 countries, but is headquartered in Philadelphia.

Selected students were brought on site visits to establishments where Aramark and Chartwells provide services. Ashley Domagola, FCRH ’16 and outgoing United Student Government executive president, said that she and three other Rose Hill students visited New York University (NYU) where Aramark was the food service provider, and The New School for Chartwells.

At NYU, she said they visited five dining venues and talked to students and faculty. Domagola spoke about an encounter she had with an employee.

“He spoke with us about the employee experiences with both companies and said that he loves working for Aramark and he feels valued as an employee,” said Domagola. “The quality of the food was good at both establishments, but the variety of the NYU locations was superior, and I think the lack of variety is one of the biggest complaints about Sodexo.”

She said that at the end of the visits, all four Rose Hill students voted for Aramark.
In a 2014 food management top 50 list, Aramark was ranked second, while Sodexo was ranked third.