Duval County Schools food service workers rally in front of company HQ, talk strike vote if agreement not reached
Jacksonville, FL – Around 55 food service workers and members of AFSCME Local 2941 rallied in front of Chartwells company offices on Monday in Jacksonville, speaking out against what workers described as poverty wages, chronic understaffing and a lack of respect from management.
“As a cafeteria lead, I often have to do the work of three staff members due to a lack of employees and decent wages,” said Annette Taylor, vice president of Local 2941 and near 30-year Chartwells worker. “And no one from upper management has the respect, or even tries to help in part of getting the food out to the children that we need to get it out to.”
Chartwells, a privatized food service contractor with over 1000 workers in schools across Duval County, currently starts wages at $13 per hour, the state minimum wage. Members are demanding better starting wages, with good pay increases over the next three years. According to workers, just last month, over three dozen workers showed up to negotiations session when the company proposed cutting their sick leave. Workers say their mobilization was successful at getting the company to back off that proposal.
Workers led chants of “Chartwells Chartwells, you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side!” along with “What do we want? A good contract! When do we want it? Now!”
The next negotiations are scheduled for October 30 and 31 with the current contract set to expire at the end of the 31.
Members have discussed a potential strike authorization vote if an agreement isn’t able to be reached.