Victory! Congratulations to University of Washington USAS and the UW Kick Out Sodexo Coalition. See their release below.

Click here for more information to TAKE ACTION in support of Sodexo workers’ struggle against sweatshop conditions in the Dominican Republic.

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UW USAS | United Students Against Sweatshops

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, December 14, 2011
Contact: Morgan Currier, UW junior, 818-642-5302

Victory! University of Washington Drops Multi-Million Dollar Deal with Controversial Dining Corporation after 25-Year Relationship

Student Celebrate Victory of Year-long Student Campaign at UW protesting Sodexo’s Labor Rights Violations in the Dominican Republic

After 50 Arrests, Sodexo No Longer Contracts With Any Public University in Washington State

SEATTLE, WA — Today, student activists a the University of Washington are celebrating a major victory after the university ended its 25-year relationship with Sodexo, who held  $3.4 Million contract for concessions at athletic events. Sodexo, the France-based outsourcing giant that feeds more college students than any other company, is embroiled in a controversy over multiple human rights exposés this school year. Students escalated the campaign after a Sodexo worker from the Dominincan Republic, Carina Mieses, came to the UW to speak out against the wage theft, poverty wages, intimidation and other abuse that Sodexo workers in the D.R. had experienced.  Mieses, along with several other workers, were fired for union activity.

The UW chapter of national student organization United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) built a coalition of 20 student groups, as well as faculty and community members, have come together to urge the administration to sever relations with Sodexo. Student action escalated in May when students conducted three separate sit-ins at the UW, at which 50 students in total were arrested.

“A year after students began this campaign about Sodexo’s human rights record, I am so glad the administration finally took responsibility for workers’ rights.  This is indisputably what our University should be doing – setting an example of global responsibility for its students and for the global community,” said Katy Lundgren, a UW Junior and UW Kick Out Sodexo Coalition organizer. “All the actions we did on campus to kick out Sodexo have really made a difference. We were planning to escalate our actions further, but now we plan on following up to make sure Aramark will respect their workers rights, not just locally, but globally.”

“Because our school has set a precedent of not tolerating human rights abuse in any form in any company, Aramark and any other companies contracting with this university will be held to a similar standard of corporate responsibility,” said Morgan Currier, a UW Junior and UW Kick Out Sodexo Coalition organizer.  “Students will continue to work in solidarity with workers on our campus and abroad to make sure these basic human rights standards are upheld in the future.”

The University of Washington is the latest in a series of universities that have dropped Sodexo after student protest and reports of Sodexo’s labor violations in the D.R. Over the course of the past year Pomona College, Regis University, Northeastern University, Western Washington University, and now the UW have ended their contractual relationships with Sodexo in response to escalating student action concerning the company’s record of human rights abuse. In the words of student organizer Remi Torres, “Sodexo has now lost their last contract with a public university in the State of Washington. We’re sending the message to Sodexo that students across the state, the country, and the globe will no longer tolerate their business practices on our campuses.“

Students’ victory for human rights at the University of Washington will not go unnoticed by students at other universities contracting with Sodexo. “We hope the UW’s actions send a clear message to other schools that if they really take social responsibility seriously, they, too, should step forward and terminate their contracts with the company.  This is a human rights issue and our universities should take the lead,” said Currier.

USAS groups across the country plan to continue urging their schools to kick out Sodexo until the company rehires the D.R. workers fired in retaliation for their efforts to end sweatshop conditions and completes the legally mandated collective bargaining process with the workers.

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