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On Friday, a group of Sodexo employees, students and community members attempted to deliver a petition to Sodexho management demanding better working standards and the right to form a union.

Nori Yamashita, Sodexo’s general manager, did not accept the petition saying that it was against policy. The number to a company labor relations representative based in California was given instead. Yamashita would also not see the group for a delegation but suggested that individuals make an appointment with him instead.

Grievances against management have been accumulating for some time now.

Celeste Lascano has worked for Sodexo for three years and has worked on campus for one. When she became pregnant she was told she would either be laid off or should take a personal leave of absence. She did the latter and when she returned, there was no permanent position for her.

“I had to fight three months to get my position back, they gave my position back just last week, [there is] a lot of disrespect, they try to intimidate you,” said Lascano, mother of six children. “My kids are on Medicaid because I can’t afford the health care. My husband’s a dishwasher here and we still can’t afford it.”

Sodexo supplies food to all dining halls on the DU campus and is a major supplier of food services to public schools and private and public colleges.

The majority of employees signed on as full-time are working 30 hours or less, noted Vicki Harris, the organizer for Service Employees International union. Harris got involved in assisting the workers after she read an article printed in the [Dis]claimer addressing the mistreatment of Sodexo employees.

The petition changes that employees are also not being allowed to take their full 30-minute breaks and yet the entire time is still being deducted from their paychecks, said Harris after hearing several different workers’ complaints.

“I went almost seven hours before I went on a break,” said Barbara Ross who has worked in the Nagel Hall dining facilities for over a year.

Among Ross’ other concerns, management does not hold safety meetings, but gives employees paperwork to read and sign during their shift. Ross also says she has also been cursed at by management and disrespected in front of students.

“There’s no one we can talk to about this, management is so unreceptive,” said Ross. “They say we will talk about it and we never do.”

At orientation, employees were told they get one free meal each shift they work, but they are only given breaks when food is not available. There is also discrepancy about who can eat when and where.

“It’s my kitchen, I’ll feed who I want” is what Lascano has heard when she asked a supervisor why the kitchen staff was allowed to eat and not the retail staff.

“For a while nobody was eating,” said Lascano.

There is no regional human resources representative for Sodexo in Colorado, but last week an HR representative flew in from California and it is common sentiment among workers that this occurred because Sodexho got wind that they were talking about organizing a union.

“[The representative] questioned certain people,” said Lascano.

When Yamashita was asked to comment about the employees’ complaints he refused to comment but gave the same number of a Sodexo labor relations representative. There has been no response.

“An employee called [the representative] a year ago and she didn’t get a response until last week,” said Lascano.

“It is really hard to give a petition to a phone number,” said Dillon Doyle, who attended the delegation on Friday as a student activist in support of the employees. Doyle is also the president of the DU DEMS who handed out 800 buttons last week to students in defense of Sodexo employees’ rights.

“We care a lot about the safety of the students, but also about the safety and welfare of our families. Right now, it’s hard to make ends meet and consequently, our health care is unaffordable. Plus, some of us are being punished for improper work procedures when we have not received adequate training. That’s why we want a real voice on the job,” said Diana Soto, a DU Sodexo employee.

The group plans to continue with the petitions and will attempt to contact human resources.