All photos are by UNITE HERE Local 26.
In September 2022, the Northeastern University dining hall workers employed by Chartwells Dining Services approved the most lucrative contract in the history of their union local, UNITE HERE Local 26. The contract will see workers’ pay triple over the course of 14 years, quadrupled pension plan contributions, and guaranteed sick day coverage, among other wins. At a time when Northeastern’s graduate student employees are organizing their own union in pursuit of better benefits and higher wages, the dining hall workers’ impressive victory begs an important question: How did they do it?
The answer requires considering a combination of factors, but for UNITE HERE Local 26 President Carlos Aramayo, the key to any bargaining success is the passion of the workers themselves. “First and foremost, the union is the members,” Aramayo explained. “It’s a lot easier to negotiate as the chief negotiator when you have a group of dedicated, militant, extremely well-organized workers who are very clear on what their demands are.”
Workers at the bargaining table.
The demands of the Northeastern workers were the same that led Harvard dining hall workers to strike in 2016 and Pomona College employees to walk out late last year: livable wages, respect on the job, and increased full-time work schedules. Boston is a city that has seen a 21% cost of living increase during the 10 years through 2020, and wages under Chartwell’s previous two contracts had not kept pace.
“Everything is expensive right now,” said Claudia Maxwell, a cook helper who has been working in Northeastern’s dining halls for 22 years. “Everybody wants to fight for a better life, and for more benefits.”
Fundamental to this process, for Maxwell, was winning “respect and dignity.” Respect from the institution and dignity on the job has been a long-fought battle. For many Northeastern workers, 2022’s negotiations were not their first fight. Before organizing a union with Local 26 in 2012, workers were making less than $10 per hour and suffering “repressive working conditions,” according to a report by Northeastern Disorientation, a club dedicated to social justice issues at the university. After winning their first union contract in 2012—and a second in 2017—workers saw their wages increase, but earnings remained $5 to $6 below the average hourly pay at other academic institutions in the city. These experiences helped to fuel long-time Northeastern worker organizers in 2022’s negotiations; workers were able to see how union support bolstered their bargaining power, as well as what was left to be done.
Members voting to ratify the contract.
“They had really stuck with it for 10 years, working as shop stewards and committee leaders in their dining halls and restaurants,” said Aramayo. “And that was really important, to have that core group of folks who had that institutional memory, and who had really been part of the campaign and project to lift these workers from the very beginning.”
These veteran workers helped secure support from the newer employees, working with Local 26 on campaigns such as a “face petition”—an action where members take their picture and sign onto a petition, literally “facing the petition”—that resulted in 92% of over 300 workers supporting a strike vote. “You can see that real consensus was built around those demands through a process,” continued Aramayo. “There were obviously a lot of meetings with workers, both the committee working on the proposals, but also the committee meeting with their rank-and-file members on the shop floor.”
In addition to meetings with the union, workers engaged with student organizations to educate them on the bargaining process. “We had a number of members and member leaders who went to student meetings and spent a lot of time with students explaining to them what it was like to work as a dining hall worker at Northeastern, but also what our fixes were. It wasn’t just ‘woe is me,’ but that there’s a way to actually fix this problem,” explained Aramayo.
For Alex Madaras, a third-year History, Culture and Law major at Northeastern, it was one of these meetings that spurred her involvement in supporting the dining hall workers. Previously involved with the campus’ mutual aid network, she got invited to an event where dining hall workers were speaking. “They just started telling their stories. They said this is what we’re struggling with right now, and we really need support,” she said. “Just hearing them talk about their experiences, what they needed in their new contract, inspired me to join.”
Northeastern HOWL rally and march.
Madaras is a member of Northeastern’s Huskies Organized With Labor (HOWL), a network of student organizers that mobilize in support of worker actions on campus. In the case of the dining hall workers, Madaras explains, HOWL’s goal was to use their leverage as students to pressure the university administration into supporting bargaining workers. The result: two rallies and a march in April, May, and June 2022, one of which attracted more than 300 people.
“We tried to make it everyone’s problem, something that other students and even faculty couldn’t ignore,” said Madaras. “If we make it something that the majority of students knows about and cares about, it becomes something the university has to address.”
Through efforts spearheaded by HOWL, almost 70 student organizations signed on to support the dining hall workers by the time their contract was won.
Northeastern HOWL flyers advertising the rally.
Madaras emphasized that HOWL’s role was a supportive one, and that it was the workers’ bargaining and solidarity that were the driving force during negotiations. “I definitely learned a lot, and that was 100% due to the relationships we formed with the workers,” she said. “They acted as friends and mentors to those of us that were new to this work. They took the supportive energy that we had and channeled it in a way that was productive…through the campaign and through the relationships that we built with workers and union organizers; we became labor solidarity organizers. And that was the best gift in the world.”
Through robust student support, internal union organizing, and a cohort of energized and dedicated worker-organizers, the Northeastern dining hall workers were able to secure a contract that included massive wage gains, a guarantee from the contractor that 75% of jobs would be classified as full time, and an assurance that Chartwells will find shift coverage if an employee calls out sick, significantly improving the quality of union members’ work lives. This combination of factors was able to propel negotiations towards a historically lucrative result for these workers, providing a key case study in the importance of worker collective action.
“This is the best contract we’ve had,” said Maxwell. “Everybody is so, so happy for that.”
