Loyola University • New Orleans • Volume 101 • Issue 09
Sodexo workers move to unionize By Maria DiFelice mldifeli@my.loyno.edu
Samantha Henry said that they feel like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders, trying to work enough to survive. Henry has been working for Sodexo at Loyola since 2017 and is the dining room lead in the university dining hall, the Orleans Room. Henry said that, in the five years that they have worked for the Sodexo at Loyola, they have only gotten a $1.95 raise and, with the rising cost of life, Henry is now working another job on their days off to make ends meet. When Henry picks up extra work on the weekends, they said it’s “just for me to have some (money) … not extra money but to have money to do what I want to do outside of what I need to do.” Henry said that they need better working conditions on campus, including more staffing to make their job better. Henry added that they have difficulty completing their assigned job because they have to fill other positions that are left open because of short staffing. Henry has since decided to unionize in order to address these issues. Jacqueline Harrison said she has been working at Sodexo at Loyola for ten plus years and is now a team lead. She said she is in support of a union because she wants to see a change in pay and the way everyone is treated. Harrison said that the newly hired people are starting at a rate of pay that is close to the people like her who have been working for 10 plus years. She is also in support because of permanent healthcare. Harrison explained how Sodexo is a seasonal job making it hard to pay for healthcare during the off season in the summertime. She explained how some people don’t have the money to be able to pay for their health care in the summertime and go without it for that period of time. “Some people have two jobs… in order to make ends meet in some kind of way to pay for medical and medical insurance,” she said. In Loyola’s 2019 tax form they stated that they paid Sodexo $8,432,021. UNITE HERE!, is an organization that helps workers for companies such as Sodexo unionize, and has been helping Sodexo workers on Loyola’s campus, like Henry, advocate for fair treatment in their work environment. Everett Hackett, a researcher with UNITE HERE!, said that their goal is to help workers, like the ones at Sodexo, unionize. According to Hackett, the organization has already helped unionize those working at William and Mary University in Virginia, Clark University in Massachusetts, and the Sisters of Maryknoll in New York. “Cafeteria workers at a majority of Jesuit campuses across the country have a union – like at Georgetown, USF, and U Seattle. As union workers, they collectively bargain for benefits like affordable or free healthcare, pensions, higher wages, and more,” Hackett said. According to Hackett, a committee of worker leaders have been working quiet-
See LUCAP, page 7
ly with Sodexo workers since the beginning of the school year, which helped the workers publicly come out in support of the union. Since Loyola’s Sodexo workers union has gone public, members of the community have begun to wear pins and stickers in support of unionization efforts. According to Rodger White, an associate professor of the political science department and former union leader, it is important that students show their support for these unionization efforts, because the entire process is easier with more support. He said that these unionization efforts show that Sodexo workers do not feel that they are being treated with due respect and dignity. “They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect by all of us,” White said. Many students, including Natallie Butler, a senior sociology major, agree that Sodexo workers deserve more respect. Butler said that she has been in support of the union for a couple of weeks. If it weren’t for the Sodexo workers, Butler said, Loyola would not be the community it is. “They’re like home away from home. They’re my community. I think you know, they take care of us,” Butler said. “I’m just here to be an aid to them and I think that they don’t get the best hours and pay and everything in between.” Katheryn Aultman’Moore, a senior philosophy pre-law student and former campus Sodexo employee at Starbucks, said that she is also in full support for the unionization of campus food service workers. Aultman’Moore said that she knows Sodexo workers who have had their same jobs for over 20 years and only make $13.75 per hour. She also added that Loyola’s campus Starbucks only pays $12 per hour, while the starting pay at other Starbucks in the New Orleans area is closer to $15 an hour.
THE MAROON NOVEMBER 11, 2022
New Orleanians fight for equitable housing By Destiny Sanders desander@my.loyno.edu
Black mold, gas leaks, and holes in the floor are common health and safety violations that renters in New Orleans face on a daily basis, said Kim Diaz, a member of the New Orleans renters rights assembly. “It’s so hard to find a place to rent,” Diaz said. Diaz got involved with the New Orleans renters rights assembly after living in a house with black mold and a gas leak in 2021. Many renters don’t fully understand their lease, which leads to landlords taking advantage of them, especially college aged tenants, Diaz said. “A lot of times students move into places owned by notorious landlords in the city without knowing,” Diaz said. Diaz shared that New Orleans is a diverse city, and all renters, regardless of their race or sex, deserve to be treated fairly throughout the renting process. Mia Upshaw, a senior filmmaking major at Loyola University New Orleans, decided to live off campus for the 20222023 school year due to the constant maintenance issues she encountered while living in the school’s residential halls. While searching for an apartment, the high rent prices impacted her decision on where to live, Upshaw said. “Not many college students can afford thousands of dollars worth of rent, so we end up staying in these run down apartments because that’s all we can af-
See UNION, page 2
Nursing students get new simulation lab page 2
Freshman Campbell Bryan paints a house for Saint Bernard Project on Oct. 1, 2022. The Saint Bernard Project partnered with LUCAP to get more volunteers to work on their disaster relief projects. Jacob L’Hommedieu/ The Maroon
Explaining the Mississippi River’s low water levels page 5
ford, ‘’ Upshaw said. The Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center is a 25-year-old civil rights, nonprofit organization based in New Orleans that was founded to help stop housing discrimination and segregation within New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, said Maxwell Ciardullo, director of policy and communications at the center. “We know that our laws in Louisiana are so lopsided and they favor landlords, ‘’ said Ciardullo. The majority of renters in New Orleans have to deal with lots of health and safety violations, Ciardullo said. The New Orleans city council unanimously passed a right-to-counsel ordinance in May 2022, according to the national low income housing coalition. The ordinance states that “it is the policy of the City of New Orleans that tenants facing an eviction from their home shall have right to legal representation in eviction proceedings and the City shall provide such legal representation to tenants to assist in the fair administration of justice.” Before this ordinance was passed, only six percent of renters in New Orleans had access to attorneys in eviction court, Ciardullo said. This ordinance is a major milestone for renters in New Orleans, and the first step to continual change within the city, Ciardullo said.
Mia Day performs at The Mushroom page 7