Sodexo employees celebrate tentative agreement

What was scheduled to be a protest turned into a celebration Wednesday as Lehigh University Sodexo employees, students, faculty and community members gathered to celebrate a tentative agreement on the workers’ first collective bargaining contract. 

The agreement was reached Tuesday evening after months of negotiations between Sodexo and Unite Here, the union representing Lehigh’s food service workers. Union organizers said the agreement addresses the workers’ key demands, including fair wages, affordable health care and protections for current and future employees. 

The agreement is not yet official. Workers will vote on whether to ratify the contract on Nov. 5. Les Lewis, lead senior external organizer at Unite Here, said they will withhold the agreement’s specific terms until workers have had the opportunity to review them. 

“In fairness to the workers of Sodexo, we’re going to hold back on the specifics of this agreement,” Lewis said. “It’s very, very good, but the workers need to hear it firsthand first.”

On Sept. 24, Sodexo employees and the community gathered to call for fair wages and consistent hours for Lehigh Sodexo employees. Workers raised concerns about health care affordability, wages and workplace treatment. 

Workers and organizers credited months of negotiations and community support with helping secure the tentative agreement. Speakers also emphasized that the agreement represents an initial step toward improving working conditions at Lehigh and encouraging union organizing at other campuses across the Lehigh Valley. 

‘History was made right here on Packard Avenue’ 

Lewis described the agreement as the culmination of a collective effort involving workers, students, faculty members and community supporters. 

“People that are making history at the time they’re making history don’t know how historic it is,” Lewis said. “History was made right here on Packard Avenue.” 

Lewis said the campaign involved repeated rallies, delegations, visits with coworkers and community members, phone calls and months of negotiations with Sodexo. 

Faculty support was another part of the effort. Bruce Whitehouse, associate professor of anthropology, discussed an open letter to university leadership organized through the American Association of University Professors. 

Whitehouse said the letter received signatures from over 100 professors. 

Lewis said the campaign sought to establish a foundation for continued organizing and greater worker influence in the region. 

“We didn’t just win a contract,” Lewis said. “We wanted to change everything.”

Workers reflect on the campaign 

Sodexo employees who participated in the campaign said the tentative agreement brought relief after months of uncertainty. 

Tanya Edgar, who works at Lehigh through Sodexo, described the emotional weight of the negotiations lifted after hearing the agreement had been reached. Another worker recalled telling coworkers about the news first thing in the morning. 

Dorian Milliron, a Sodexo worker involved in the campaign, said her motivation was to secure dignity and respect for all. 

“I’m here because I was fighting for our dignity, respect and human rights, which we all deserve,” Milliron said. “I’m fighting for everybody.” 

Milliron also thanked attendees who supported the workers throughout the effort. She said the campaign wouldn’t have succeeded without their involvement. 

Evan Lempke, administrative coordinator of Creative Inquiry, said he received a text message announcing the agreement, which made Wednesday one of the best days of his year. 

“It’s just one more step to human rights and rectifying centuries of oppression, but there’s still a lot more work to be done,” Lempke said. 

‘The work doesn’t begin until you win’ 

Although Wednesday’s gathering marked a celebration, organizers said the campaign’s next phase will depend on ratification and enforcement of the contract. 

Mike Kaibaum, an organizing director at Unite Here, said negotiating a first contract presents challenges because workers and the employer must establish terms without an existing agreement at that workplace to use as a model. 

“The work doesn’t begin until you win the collective bargaining agreement,” Kaibaum said. “Because then we have to enforce the contract.”

He also said that a contract’s provisions must be put into practice to ensure workers receive the rights and protections they establish. 

For Lehigh’s Sodexo employees, the immediate next step is the Nov. 5 ratification vote. If workers approve the agreement, the focus will shift toward implementing its provisions and ensuring the negotiated terms are upheld. 

At this time, details of the ratification have not been specified.

Lewis also said Sodexo employees at Moravian University, DeSales University and Northampton Community College are scared that organizing won’t lead to meaningful results. 

“There’s still a lot of fear on other campuses,” Lewis said. “They’re afraid. They would vote against their own best interests out of fear.”

He said he has hope that the Lehigh agreement would give those workers a concrete example of what collective action can accomplish. 

Organizers described the contract as a starting point for broader efforts to improve working conditions and build worker power throughout the Lehigh Valley. 

“This is the first contract,” Lewis said. “But hopefully one of many more.”