Emerson College dining workers join Local 26

One-hundred food service workers for Sodexo at Emerson College have joined UNITE HERE Local 26 following an overwhelming vote in favor of unionization. Workers first presented a petition to management in April of this year, with strong backing from the campus community in which they asked for a fair process to determine union representation. Twenty-five student groups organized in support the food service workers’ organizing while the Emerson College Faculty Assembly voted unanimously to support.

The new Local 26 members look forward to collectively bargaining their first union contract. Organizing committee member and baker Donna Papastavrou said, “The work we do to feed the campus helps make Emerson strong. We are proud to be part of this community and to have stood together to win respect and a voice on the job.”

The Emerson workers join food service workers at ten other Boston area colleges and universities in Local 26 including Harvard, MIT, and Northeastern University.