valley breeze – RI Future

The Pawtucket school lunch workers will hold a one day strike on Friday September 23 to highlight the importance equal pay for women if no Agreement is reached. In an effort to avoid the strike, the Pawtucket school lunch workers will be negotiating with their employer, Aramark Educational Services, LLC after school on Thursday, September 22.

The 81 school lunch employees earn only $0.76 for every $1.00 earned by a male doing comparable work. Ethan Shorey wrote in The Valley Breeze that Jenna Karlin, of the Local 26 that Unite Here! “prepared the comparison of 76 cents for women to $1 for men by using publicly available data of the Pawtucket school support staff positions that are primarily filled by men (custodians) and the pay rate data members have for local school lunch members… The figures compare the hourly pay rates.”

On September 8 employees of Aramark voted 100 percent to strike. The workers have also unveiled a mural showing photos of 73 school lunch workers who are ready to strike.

The call for equal pay comes weeks after Massachusetts’s Governor Charlie Baker signed a pay equity bill into law making the circumstances occurring in Pawtucket illegal in Massachusetts. The School Lunch employees in Everett, Massachusetts inspired this new law as part of their fight for equal pay.

The Pawtucket School Lunch workers demand for equal pay comes at a healthy time for the School Lunch Program. The Program’s revenues, in addition to funding all Program expenses, allows Aramark to take over $250,000 back to its out-of-state headquarters every year.

In addition, Aramark has also asserted the right to make changes in work conditions, including changing employee hours, unilaterally, without a contract. This action is currently under legal challenge.

Jayne Rainville, Lead Cook at Jenks Junior High, stated: “I can’t believe that Aramark is treating us this way. Enough is enough. We deserve to be treated fairly.”

Carolyn DeOliveira, Lead Cook at Nathaniel Greene Elementary School, said, “I pour my heart and soul into my job because I care about the kids. Aramark is trying to take advantage of our passion. Like I taught my kids and my grandkids, there comes a time when you have to put your foot down and stand up.”

Kate Massey, at Shea High School, said, “I do this work for the kids. For too many, we serve the only meal(s) they will eat all day. The way Aramark is treating us, makes it harder for us to take care of the kids.”

It’s hard enough to run against an incumbent but Gus Uht, a progressive running to represent Cumberland in the state legislature against conservative Karen MacBeth, feels like he’s running against the local newspaper too.

His campaign says the Valley Breeze has not only displayed an editorial bias against him, but has also not run advertisements in the paper and online that he paid for.

“I would like to think it’s not deliberate,” said Robin Dionne, who is managing Uht’s campaign for him. “If it were an isolated incident I would think it was an oversight.”

She said Uht paid a premium price for his ad to appear on page 2 of the paper three times but it only appeared there once. Uht’s campaign paid 25 percent more for the ad so that it would be on page 2 of the Valley Breeze but instead was on page 18. Instead, his opponent’s ad was on page 2. There were also instances of his ad not appearing online, which was part of what they paid for.

“It was an oversight by the person involved,” said Valley Breeze publisher Tom Ward. He said Uht’s campaign was refunded money for the oversight.

Dionne said the campaign would have preferred the ad to the refund.

She also said the paper has shown an editorial bias towards MacBeth.

“I would say they definitely aren’t acting as an impartial news source,” Dionne said. As evidence, she offered this article from August 15, and this one published today.

Today’s article describes Uht’s campaign as “offering what may be the most unusual of candidate qualifications” while MacBeth is described as “touting a strong record on pro-business votes.”

Valley Breeze editor Marcia Green said she did “everything I could” to be fair to both candidates. Publisher Tom Ward said it is the paper’s policy to be neutral.

“There are no politics involved,” he said. “We do all we can to be as fair as possible. We knock ourselves out to be right down the middle. I’m a conservative guy, but if you think I play it that way with my business, I just don’t.”

Dionne also said the Valley Breeze has run more press releases from MacBeth than it has from Uht. Earlier today, she said there was no press release online this week from Uht but there was one from MacBeth. Green, the editor, said there was a press release online. Dionne said it was uploaded after the Valley Breeze was contacted by me for this story.

Both Uht and MacBeth are squaring off in the Democrat primary but are vastly different as candidates. Uht is campaigning on a progressive platform of income tax fairness and jobs. MacBeth calls herself a fiscal conservative but she is best known for being one of the most conservative members of the General Assembly when it comes to a woman’s right to an abortion. She sponsors the annual bill that would require women to have an ultrasound performed prior to an abortion.

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Pawtucket school lunch workers call one day strike for Friday

Uht Campaign Complains Valley Breeze Is Biased