Hamstringing Sodexo: How Hiram College Changed More Than the Menu

by Robert Heltzel

This upcoming October 10th will mark the first anniversary of the day members of my Alma mater, Hiram College, stared down a bloated, corporate monster by the name of Sodexo and crassly quipped "Your fly is open. Get out." I write this article in remembrance of that fantastic, weird, and historic day.

For an entire year I had watched as the demeanor of my friends in the Hiram College cafeteria sank to abyssal lows under the boot of Sodexo Corporation, which had taken over our dining services in 2007. Pompous supervisors barked orders at cooks and dishwashers. People who had been managers from years long before Sodexo were shunted aside and told to take orders from suited snobs with titles like "District Manager." The cleaning crew was removed, forcing the same people preparing the food to also clean the facilities. Already low student employment dropped and enormous amounts of labor were foisted upon fewer employees. Nobody really knew what to do until some brave women decided that they wanted a change, and needed it fast.

On a Sunday afternoon two friends of mine, Wendy and Linda, women who had been employees in the dining hall for years, asked me to meet them in the afternoon.... in the back of the parking lot behind the kitchen. This was not an invitation to go raccoon-watching but rather a covert request from them (since disagreement with the Sodexo Empire is not tolerated) that I type and edit a letter they had written expressing their discontent with the workplace environment. But not only did this letter spell out what their problems were with the pricks in charge it also expressed that they were to walk out in a strike against the Sodexo management! They were fed up and ready to do something about it! I rushed the news to students that I knew would assist in their cause and hastily we created a plan of how to best call attention to the abuses happening at the hands of Sodexo. Shutting out the usual college distractions we came together to help people that needed our defense. And we damn well delivered.

Three days passed and at 11:00 am on an overcast Wednesday morning students stormed the cafeteria, joined the workers, and together confronted the abominable general manager, John Cahill, firmly declaring to him that we were through with the bullshit that had become knee-deep at the dining hall. Handing him our demands we then headed straight for college president Tom Chema’s office and upon finding him absent, parked ourselves in the plush lobby and awaited a response from the administration. Ultimately we were able to get the answers we wanted. Meetings were arranged, cheesy smiles flashed by college officials, and everyone dispersed. We had made our statement heard.

It wasn’t until November 5th that real results came when, as I was scanning the school’s internet forum I noticed a post from the school president plainly entitled "Sodexo Dining". I clicked and read with excitement as Tommy boy stated that "I have notified Sodexho Dining that Hiram College will exercise its option to separate from them in 60 days.” Sodexo was getting the ax! There were a few blemishes in the plan, however. Sodexo would, inexplicably, remain in the maintenance and cleaning services, despite the shoddy job they had done with managing the employees there. In addition to this the college decided to continue outsourcing our dining services, this time to AVI Foodsystems Incorporated, based out of Warren, OH. I was disconcerted that the college had not learned its lesson about outsourcing, but at least we would be working with a company only 45 minutes away. It was an okay start, and as I type this it is to my understanding that AVI has been treating my friends exponentially better than Sodexo ever did. Provided they keep to their word about being an ethically run business, they should experience a much smoother time at Hiram than the irresponsible losers before them.

In the end we students and workers were the victors. We kicked a corporate lunatic in the crotch and let them know that we took care of our own. Rejected and removed, Sodexo felt the full bite of a revolt. May it happen everywhere.

Comments

[Actuarily Unsound]

Excellent story! And so true in terms of the likely outcome for former employees when their jobs are outsourced. If anyone wants to know what's wrong with "outsourcing," just clip the second paragraph and send it to them. It speaks volumes.

[Lori Kaschak]

I am a secondary educator and adjunct professor who recently read Nickel and Dimed b/c my daughter gave it to me as she had to read it for a college course and I have to say Wow! I have lived it and Thank God you have written it!!
I am a divorced single parent of 4 children who put herself through college after divorcing an abusive husband (married 10 years). Although I have a decent job now and of course am still working a second job as well ( old habits die hard!) I am still struggling to pull myself out of the debt that the divorce and schooling put me into.I am not making excuses but alerting you to possible material for another book. I have defaulted on my student loan and after consulting 2 lawyers have found no way of dealing with their demands for $800 per month payments to counter the $230 in interest added monthly (which I might add is currently more than my mortgage payment). They attempted to attach my wages but the powers that be deemed that an "undue hardship" so we are again in a stalemate. Add to that rising costs of living, the mortgage crisis and the fact that I am not getting any younger and you have a rather bleak picture but I am ever hopeful. I was raised by parents who had a "never say never!" attitude that I have adopted as well. We need to keep our "voice" alive in the U.S. We need to be vocal in order to bring about social change and we do need social change but first we need to make others aware of it!
Sincerely,
Lori Kaschak

[sally moore]

As a recent graduate with i miserly Bachelor's degree, i am working at a temp agency for $9.00 hour. Our jobs are being outsourced, so we will not be there much longer. While talking to a very nice, but very naive ultra conservative Christian man at work today, he told me that the reason the American jobs are being outsourced is because, "It is our fault, we are a nation of lazy people who only work for a new couch. We do not have to work for food, so we have become lazy. The people in India are motivated to work because they actually have to feed their family."
I was pretty shocked. This young man really believes this. Oh, by the way, he does not know how to read. He is my supervisor, and he is going into the police program. He was accepted even though he flunked the reading and spelling portion of the test. He was called later after everyone else failed. I guess the police force testing is based on a bell curve? I really do not want a person who cannot read becoming a public servant.
I am writing this because I just read Bait and Switch, and this book hit the nail on the head.

[JJ García]

Great article. As the former president of the University of New Mexico Graduate and Professional Student Association, we also organized and got rid of Sodexo/Aramark from our campus. You can go to your paper the Daily Lobo. Through a coalition of students at UNM, Were 1) got rid of Sodexo/Aramark 2) made them lose a $20+ million dollar contract 3) improved employee benefits and work conditions while 4) improving food/health options on our campus, not to mention 5) were instrumental in making Sodexo/Aramark allow their employees to UNIONIZE!!