President Torgerson
Luther College
700 College Drive
Decorah, IA, 52101
Dear President Torgerson,
cc: Board of Regents
For the last six years I have consistently celebrated my experience at Luther College. I have touted it as a place that always did the right thing, treated workers well, tried to have a strong stance on being 'Green', and, of course, provided a quality education.
However, this recent news of switching Caf services to Sodexo is horrifying. As you know, Sodexo has been challenged for numerous labor and environmental violations.
For example, Sodexo has been charged with providing poor food for those they serve, as well as practicing bad hygiene standards. (See Supersize Me and Channel 4 Documentary by UK TV).
Secondly, the corporation has several recorded workers rights violations. They are anti-union and, as such, the antithesis to Luther's stated mission. (There is a lot of information available on this due to boycott information by the Restaurant Employees International Union, among others).
This point has already hit home at Luther College. There are cases in which 60 year old women are working 10-hour days and unable to take breaks. This did not happen with the old Luther Caf The Caf was a home away from home. No more.
Finally, Luther has made great progress over the past years in moving towards greater energy efficiency. One meaningful stride should have been to support local farmers - rather than outsourcing food production to an unhealthy alternative. Again, this sort of spiteful act towards the Luther community is defiantly against the college's mission.
As an alumnus of the college, I can promise you that my future donations to the college will be cut off until Sodexo is out of food production and Luther stands behind their mission:
In the reforming spirit of Martin Luther, Luther College affirms the liberating power of faith and learning. As people of all backgrounds, we embrace diversity and challenge one another to learn in community, to discern our callings, and to serve with distinction for the common good.
As a college of the church, Luther is rooted in an understanding of grace and freedom that emboldens us in worship, study, and service to seek truth, examine our faith, and care for all God’s people.
As a liberal arts college, Luther is committed to a way of learning that moves us beyond immediate interests and present knowledge into a larger world—an education that disciplines minds and develops whole persons equipped to understand and confront a changing society.
As a residential college, Luther is a place of intersection. Founded where river, woodland, and prairie meet, we practice joyful stewardship of the resources that surround us, and we strive to be a community where students, faculty, and staff are enlivened and transformed by encounters with one another, by the exchange of ideas, and by the life of faith and learning.
I know that these are tough economic times, but financial hardship is no excuse to abuse workers and students.
Thank you for your time,
Posts
5 comments:
Where did you hear that 60-year-old women working in Caf are being forced to work 10-hour shifts without breaks?
As a student worker I can say that no one works 10-hour shifts without breaks. No one.
Before the writer of the open letter draws too many conclusions he/she should learn a bit more about the situation. Since Sodexo came to campus we are giving better food, more nutritious options, and more local grown food. It's also a more organized place to work.
It is sad that someone would judge so harshly with so few facts.
@Luther 2011, I would like to see the data source of the "More Nutritious" claim. It greasy pizza every day is more nutritious then I would hate to see what it was like before.
That said I have also not seen any reports of 10hr breakless shifts at Luther, though it quite possibly did happen elsewhere in with Sodexo.
While more local food is purchased using their metric of $$ spent. Luther had existing plans to increase local food purchasing, so Sodexo kind of walked in to that and is now claiming it as their own. Notice how most of the local food it the BEEF, which as a meat product is more expensive than veggie products, so simply buy more meat as they have done and complement it with the cheapest (also not local) veggies and you will bring the % of total budget spent on local food higher.
Sodexo have not been socially just to local producers. Corporate policies are such that purchasing is now only happening through one local provider. Other providers are kept out through processing and insurance requirements generally targeted at large processing facilities that were not previously required of them.
Sodexo using former CNN reporter to circulate negative propaganda against labor organizations
Gaithersburg, Maryland – Michael McManus, the Director of Public Relations of Sodexo, is being used as a weapon by company to create and circulate negative rhetoric against labor organizations such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
In late 2009, Michael McManus, the Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent at HDNews, was hired as Director of Public Relations for Sodexo, the global food and facilities management company based in Paris and the Washington D.C. area.
During his three years at HDNews, McManus handled the day-to-day operations in the Nation's Capitol including the DC based reporting, managing, and the public relations and marketing of the television network.
Prior to that, McManus spent 12 years anchoring, reporting and producing at CNN. During his time at CNN, McManus anchored, reported on, and produced countless major stories, including the Iraq war, the JFK, Jr. plane crash, the 9/11 attacks, TWA flight 800, the Virginia Tech massacre, the Pope's visit to the United States, and the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. While McManus had a stellar career at CNN covering disasters and major events, he was roundly criticized by many labor and environmental organizations for his superficial and often flattering coverage of big business. In fact, McManus had earned a reputation for being a friend of big business and was known as being very critical and dismissive of the concerns and issues of labor.
Originally, Sodexo had stated that McManus would be building the company’s digital presence and heading up its social media strategy. However, some PR representatives at Sodexo have privately indicated that McManus has been mainly hired to attack the SEIU and other labor organizations. As one Sodexo official stated, “the best defense is a good offense.” Given McManus’ history of being a friend of big business, McManus is said to be greatly enjoying his role as “labor attack dog” for Sodexo.
The prior comment with the headline (!): "Sodexo using former CNN reporter to circulate negative propaganda against labor organizations" reads an awful lot like a press release ... and it appears verbatim on several other blogs.
Makes one wonder who might be commenting on blogs in stealth mode.
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