Harvard cafeteria workers announce plans to strike in ten days

Organizers said about 200 Harvard University students and workers attended a rally Wednesday at the First Parish Church in Cambridge, where labor organizers announced plans for the school’s dining hall employees to strike when their contract expires on Sept. 17.

Organizers with Local 26, which represents the workers, said they had met with school officials 13 times since May 20, without meeting common ground on a new contract.

Among the workers’ demands is a guarantee that the school pay workers at least $35,000 a year. The average dining hall employee made less than $35,000 last year, spokesperson Tiffany Eyck said.

Without overtime hours, about 70 percent of employees failed to meet that threshold for their yearly income, she said.

Read more: http://www.metro.us/boston/harvard-cafeteria-workers-announce-plans-to-strike-in-ten-days/zsJpih---eXnQNoKO2WRYk/