We demand #WorkersOverKickbacks
Aramark, Sodexo and Compass Group
Colleges and universities and the food service companies they contract with are failing students, workers, and food producers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As campuses have closed down, most dining workers have been laid off, left with uncertainty around their pay and benefits. Those who are still working are not consistently receiving personal protective equipment (PPE) and hazard pay for the risk they are putting themselves in. Students are facing food insecurity, having to figure out where their next meal will come from after being kicked off campuses without fully refunded meal plans, housing, tuition and other expenses. At the same time, with dining halls closed down, independent family farmers, fishers, and ranchers are scrambling to find alternative markets to sell their food to and are at risk of irreversible economic loss.
The multinational and multi billion dollar food service companies Aramark, Sodexo, and Compass Group (the “Big 3”) control the vast majority of contracted dining operations at colleges and universities. These companies make millions of dollars through kickbacks won through exclusive deals with Big Food manufacturers known for mass exploitation of land and labor. The Big 3 are prioritizing corporate greed over showing up for workers during a crisis with life threatening consequences, and they are complicit in the inaction of the institutions they contract with.
Sign this petition to call on the Big 3 to take responsibility and ensure the survival of workers, students, and community food producers during this crisis.
Sponsored by
To:
Aramark, Sodexo and Compass Group
From:
[Your Name]
Aramark, Sodexo, and Compass Group:
We call on you to take responsibility for the treatment of students, workers, and producers during the crisis created by the global pandemic. You control the vast majority of contracted dining operations at colleges and universities and make millions from the kickbacks you get from Big Food manufacturers in exchange for exclusive market access to our colleges and universities nationwide.
When COVID-19 hit, campuses shut down and you laid off most campus workers leaving them with uncertainty around their pay and benefits. Those who are still working are not consistently receiving personal protective equipment and hazard pay for the risk they are putting themselves in. Students are facing food insecurity, having to figure out where their next meal will come from after being kicked off campuses without fully refunded meal plans, housing, tuition and other expenses. At the same time, with dining halls closed down, independent family farmers, fishers, and ranchers are scrambling to find alternative markets to sell their food to and are at risk of irreversible economic loss.
We demand that you:
1) Take responsibility for food service worker wages and benefits through 2020
2) Provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and hazard pay to workers still working
3) Refund student meal plans
4) Honor contracts with independent family farmers, fishers, and ranchers
5) End kickbacks from Big Food manufacturers
You must take responsibility alongside the institutions you contract with to ensure the survival of workers, students, and community food producers during this crisis.