The College Fix

But student workers won’t see increased pay

Kutztown University has five unions covering faculty and professional staff, and Aramark food service workers want to make it six.

A successful union drive could mean another hit to student wallets, following the Pennsylvania public university’s elimination of lower-cost dining plans.

A representative from Service Employees International Union, which has helped other universities with unionization for dining and other employees, reached out to Kutztown’s student government to rally support. Two-thirds of student representatives voted to support the unionization effort earlier this month.

Other than Joe Scoboria, student body president, posting the vote results on Facebook, the university has been silent on the possible unionization.

A few weeks before the vote, Scoboria told The Keystone that student representatives would seek feedback about the effort from their peers.

“The workers will be happy,” Scoboria answered when asked how students would benefit from unionized dining workers. “You’ll have workers who are respected, who make a fair wage, who get fair raises, who have benefits.”

Those workers won’t include students, however, because those who work for Aramark are part-time. The union is reserved for full-time workers. Aramark employs about 200 people at Kutztown, including students.

Students allegedly wanted fewer options

The biggest potential impact is on dining plan costs. Even without unionization, students have seen dining costs increase. This year, the 19-meal-per-week plan costs $1,759, a $320 increase from the previous year.

Next year, following the completion of renovations on the dining facilities, dining services will even remove the cheapest meal plans, costing $999 to $1,479, to offer an all-you-can-eat plan. Dining services claims it removed those plans because of student feedback.

New contracts with three university unions are already set to increase personnel costs.

In January, salaries will increase by 2.25 percent for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; Professional Employees International Union Healthcare of Pennsylvania; and State College and University Professional Association. In addition, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, representing professors and coaches, is negotiating a contract.

Increasing personnel costs are a major concern for the university, especially with enrollment in decline since 2010, The Keystone has reported.

So far, Aramark is not contesting the unionization effort.

“Aramark has a great deal of respect for our employees, and while we prefer that our employees deal directly with us on issues concerning their employment, we fully support their democratic right to understand all of the issues and choose for themselves on the matter of union representation,” spokeswoman Karen Cutler told The College Fix.

The Kutztown administration declined to comment, referring The Fix to Aramark.

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