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Muhlenberg Dining Workers Vote 'Yes' to Union | WDIY Local News

Muhlenberg Dining Workers United
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Contributed Photo

In early November, Muhlenberg College dining workers went public with a union campaign to call for higher wages, better treatment, affordable and more consistent health coverage, and consistent scheduling.

On Wednesday night, the workers came together to conduct a union election. At this meeting, the workers voted to organize with 74 ‘yes’ votes to 20 ‘no’ votes. This is an overwhelming victory, says Ben Bennett, one of the lead organizers from Workers United, an international labor union.

“Nearly 80% of workers who voted voted ‘yes.’”

Sandy Scotto Di Covella and Evan Hallman, two food service workers at Muhlenberg, say not only did many workers have issues with the pay, benefits, and scheduling, but also with how issues were being addressed.

“They felt like issues were not being handled in a proper speed to get things done. Sometimes they were ignored.”

“I think everyone said, “I deserve more. I work hard, I do a lot.” And I think once we realized we all felt this way, it was very easy for us to see a way forward.”

Workers United has helped dining workers at several area colleges in recent years, including the University of Scranton, East Stroudsburg University, and Kutztown University. They conduct extensive outreach to dining workers throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania, which connected them with an initial core group of Muhlenberg workers.

The group grew and was holding quiet meetings until they finally went public last month. Evan says he was excited to join when he saw how quickly it was growing.

“Once they got me into the fold and I saw how many people were already involved and how many people felt the same way I did, and how optimistic and excited they were for making a change, I think it was a big incentive.”

Working to get a lot of workers involved was vital, but so was reaching out to the community for support. The group held rallies on campus to create more visibility among faculty, students and residents.

“The rallies got people interested. And after the rallies, fears people might have had about the union organization and how work would perceive them, it helped ease fears from people thinking of retaliation.”

On the day of the union vote, members of the organizing committee were making sure everyone knew how to get to the polling place so everyone’s voice could be heard. Sandy shared her view of the excitement after the results were announced.

“I was actually working at the time that the counts came in, and coworkers were very excited. They were like, ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ You wouldn’t believe the excitement when they found out. They started hugging each other, it was that great.”

Now that a successful union vote was held, the college is legally required to sit down and negotiate a new contract. The union is excited to begin the bargaining process.

Support from the campus community continues to be seen throughout the process. Students can be seen wearing stickers voicing their support for their dining workers. Words of encouragement can be found on public feedback boards. Large numbers of students showed up to the rallies, and Evan and Sandy say students have wished the workers good luck and stood on their side.

They also say they enjoy their work and the community they serve, and they hope earning better benefits can help them provide the best service possible.

“I think it’s a great sign that all of these unionizations are happening. It’s a stressful, thankless job. But being in this environment and seeing other people willing to stand up and say, ‘No, I do deserve more’ really kind of opened my eyes. When we stand together, we are stronger.”

James is the News and Public Affairs Director for WDIY. He reports on stories in the Lehigh Valley and across the state which impact the region, along with managing WDIY's volunteers who help create the station's diverse line-up of public affairs programs.
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