Labour holds rally in support of Sodexho workers
Rally takes place at noon, today,at West 10th and Heather Street at Vancouver Hospital
Labour leaders will speak at a rally in support of 1,100 Sodexho workers who have been engaged in rotating job action since September 15.
The main issue is wages with the French corporation paying 90 per cent of its workers just $10.15 an hour to provide dietary, cleaning and other support services at nearly 30 hospitals and care facilities.
Speaking at the rally will be a number of labour leaders including HEU secretary-business manager Judy Darcy, BCGEU president George Heyman, and BC Federation of Labour secretary-treasurer Angela Schira.
Sodexho has a 10-year, $330 million food services contract with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and a five-year cleaning contract with the Fraser Health Authority worth more than $70 million. The company took in more than $17 billion in global revenues last year.
First contract bargaining for this group of Sodexho workers began March 11 and includes 1,100 workers at 29 health care facilities in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Sunshine Coast and Victoria.
The contract talks include Sodexho food service workers at Vancouver Coastal Health Authority facilities and cleaning staff at MSA, Eagle Ridge and Mission Memorial hospitals in the Fraser Health Authority as well as a range of support services at German-Canadian, Foyer Maillard and Rosewood care homes in the Lower Mainland and Central Care in Victoria.
Most of the 1,100 workers are represented by the Hospital Employees’ Union. More than a dozen Sodexho employees at Vancouver’s George Pearson care facility are members of the BC Goverrnment and Service Employees’ Union.
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Contact: Margi Blamey, communications officer, 604 785 5324 (cell)