Students and faculty at Rollins College march in support of dining workers’ rights to organize for a union. Credit: photo by McKenna Schueler/Orlando Weekly

A food service contractor for a private liberal arts college in Florida illegally threatened and surveilled its employees ahead of a union election, according to the union Unite Here, which is calling on the federal labor board to scrap the election results — which turned out to be a narrow loss for the union.

The workers’ employer, Sodexo, engaged in “objectionable conduct” ahead of the election, according to Unite Here, including allegedly threatening to fire a worker if they voted for unionization, organizing an anti-union rally, and promising food to workers after the election — with the implication that the food would serve as a reward for voting against unionization.

“The objectionable conduct is of such scope and severity that it warrants the setting aside of the election,” a lawyer for the union wrote in objections filed with the National Labor Relations Board, obtained by Orlando Weekly through a public records request.

The results were close. In mid-November, after waiting months for an election date, Sodexo employees at Rollins College, near Orlando, voted 39-33 against joining Unite Here Local 362, a union that also represents thousands of workers at Disney World and the Orlando International Airport.

This came after over a year of organizing — and consequent surveillance by managers and threats and intimidation from management, according to workers Orlando Weekly previously interviewed.

Workers submitted a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election in April — a move that requires at least 30% of workers to be in support.

But workers went public with their organizing campaign in February, after Sodexo allegedly sicced campus security on four students of the University of Central Florida, who were flyering in support of the union on the private college’s campus.

This was a clear attempt at intimidation, several workers told Orlando Weekly later.

Security then called the Winter Park Police Department, which issued trespass notices to the young students, according to police records obtained by Orlando Weekly.

In their objections to the election results, the union says that Sodexo — a French company with a long history of firing, threatening and intimidating organizing workers — amped up their counter-organizing campaign against the union after workers officially filed a petition to unionize.

This aggression was something of a surprise. Unite Here already represents Sodexo workers elsewhere in Central Florida: at Disney World and at the Orange County Convention Center (both of which workplaces notched notable union wins in the recent past). All in all, the union represents 300,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada, largely in the hospitality and service industries.

But dining workers told Orlando Weekly that management has waged a particularly aggressive war against the union reaching Rollins College, a profitable site for Sodexo as an affluent institution that charges students thousands of dollars per semester for meal plans.

Sodexo itself, while not a terribly recognizable name, is the nation’s largest federal food service contractor, servicing government cafeterias, schools, hospitals, and other private companies, like Google. It operates in at least 45 counties, with roughly 430,000 employees.

While the company reported $22 billion in revenue last year, employees at Rollins College who sought to unionize — including dining hall attendants, cashiers, cooks and others — are paid between $15 to $20 per hour, according to NLRB documents. Some workers at Rollins who have been there for years make the same, if not less, than new hires.

Orlando Weekly previously reported on allegations of illegal anti-union behavior from Sodexo management at Rollins College — where many dining employees are people of color and immigrants, some of whom have limited English skills and therefore limited job opportunities elsewhere.

We also reported on an anti-union rally that appeared to be orchestrated by Sodexo managers and supervisors who wouldn’t be eligible to join the union anyway.

Supervisors passed out “No Union” T-shirts and, according to one worker Orlando Weekly spoke to the next day, allegedly urged dining hall workers who were on the clock to attend the rally.

An employee who led the rally (later identified as a senior supervisor) lied to the gathered workers, telling them that all of the Unite Here staff make over $100,000 a year.

“You’re about to give ’em a raise,” she said, earning a “Wow!” from the crowd. An annual report the federal government requires the union to file, however, shows this is blatantly untrue. The rally was conveniently staged one day ahead of a different rally, organized by students and faculty, in support of a free and fair election for the dining workers.

Barbara Penaroque (right), a senior supervisor for Sodexo at Rollins College, speaks to a group of workers at a “No Union” rally organized on campus in Winter Park, Florida. Credit: McKenna Schueler

On Nov. 27, just over a week after the close election loss, Unite Here submitted a list of 15 examples of “objectionable conduct” to the federal labor board, which oversees union elections among private sector employees, in their plea for the results of the election to be tossed.

According to the union, alleged actions by Sodexo management and/or supervisors that warrant an election redo include:

Telling a worker their hours would be cut if they voted in favor of unionizing.
Threatening to fire a worker if they voted in favor of unionizing.
Telling at least three workers they were required to vote in the union election.
Telling workers that unionizing would be futile, and that it wouldn’t change the company’s policy of laying off workers during the less-busy summer and winter months at the college, forcing them to reapply months later — a policy that workers previously told Orlando Weekly causes instability and inconsistency.
Following and monitoring a “known union supporter,” and behaving in ways that made the worker believe the company was listening in on their conversations with co-workers.
Selectively “approached workers who were on the clock” during the election voting period and “told them to go vote.” According to the union’s objection, management did not approach vocally pro-union workers to remind them to vote (the election took place on a Thursday and Saturday on the Rollins College campus).
Interrogating a worker during the election period, asking if they’d voted and when the worker refused to say, “told the employee that they could vote anyways.”
Escorting workers to the voting location during the election period.
Promising workers ahead of the election they’d serve them pernil — Puerto Rican pork shoulder — after the election, allegedly posed as an incentive to vote against the union. According to the union, the employer fulfilled that promise “on or about the day of the election.”
Failing to ensure that a notice of the election posted in one of the dining halls (as required by labor law) remained free of “Employer-issued anti-union propaganda” that was plastered over the notice ahead of the election.
Failing to provide the union with a complete list of employees who were eligible to vote in the election ahead of the voting period, as required under federal law.
Holding the election at a location on the college campus (the library) that requires use of an employer-issued ID badge scanner to enter, and which workers rarely, if ever, actually visit. This, the union says, led workers to believe they could be tracked by their employer as they went to vote. “Although the scanning mechanism was apparently disabled during the voting and the library doors left open, the Employer did not notify workers that this would be the case so as to dispel the impression that whether or not they entered to vote could be traced and tracked,” the union’s objection reads.
Announcing a rule in April (after workers filed a petition to unionize) that prohibited wearing pins in the workplace. A worker testified to a NLRB hearing officer that, sometime after the new rule went into effect, they were directed by a supervisor to remove a “pro-union” pin they were wearing.
Organizing an “anti-union” rally on the Rollins College campus. The union describes this as coercive behavior that demonstrated to workers that Sodexo “sponsors and supports expressions of anti-union sentiment.” The employer also bought anti-union T-shirts, the union alleges, and essentially polled workers on what they thought of the union by presenting them with the opportunity to attend the rally and take anti-union paraphernalia.
Making a threat, during the anti-union rally, to call the police on workers for engaging in organizing activities. Orlando Weekly witnessed this (we think). A sous chef (who wasn’t going to be eligible to join the union anyway) told Orlando Weekly at the rally that “these people” (presumably pro-union folks) were harassing workers, and had followed her to her car. It had reached the point, she said, that “If they don’t stop, I’m going to call the police.”

Sodexo did not respond to Orlando Weekly’s request for comment on this story. However, back in February, Sodexo sent an emailed statement denying allegations from workers of unlawful behavior.

“Sodexo respects the rights of our employees to unionize or not to unionize, as proven by the hundreds of CBAs [collective bargaining agreements, a.k.a. union contracts] we have in good standing with unions across the country,” a spokesperson told Orlando Weekly over email. “We are confident this will also reach an amicable agreement for workers, the union, and our client soon.”

Unite Here Local 362 did not respond to Orlando Weekly’s request for comment on this story.

Violations of workers’ right to organize and form unions in the workplace isn’t uncommon. Employers are charged with breaking federal law in roughly 4 in 10 union elections, an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found, which commonly happens in the form of disciplining or firing workers, or changing terms of their employment, in retaliation for organizing or for being vocally pro-union.

Close to home, a Teamsters local similarly objected to the results of an election last month for delivery workers for ReadyRefresh, a bottled water supplier owned by a former Nestlé Waters North America subsidiary, in Davenport, Florida. The result of that election was a tie, but since more than 50% of support is needed for the union to prevail, a tie is interpreted under federal law as a loss.

Objections filed by the Teamsters, obtained by Orlando Weekly through a records request, similarly detail allegations of company management retaliating against a worker known to be pro-union, and telling workers that joining the Teamsters union would be futile. Company management also allegedly told workers they’d see worse working conditions, would no longer be able to earn commission pay, and would earn less money if they voted to unionize.

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Rollins College contractor illegally threatened, surveilled workers ahead of union election, labor union alleges

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