Students advocate for the unionization of Sodexo workers

Maria DiFelice, News Assistant

Students are working on unionizing the Sodexo branch here at Loyola. They set up a booth at around 8:45 am on Oct. 13, according to sociology junior Natalie Butler. She said that staff at Loyola who hold power, and were not named, were being hostile towards students and told them they were not allowed to table and hand out stickers. 

“I got the opportunity to talk to some people of power at Loyola and they kept on responding that this isn’t a student issue this is a workers issue, which I think frustrated me the most,” Butler said. 

Butler also said she believed the large number of New Orleans Police Department officers on campus yesterday was in response to  the unionization and to keep everyone safe. 

However, Loyola University Police Department deputy police Gary Spangler said the large number of NOPD police officers in the Orleans Room yesterday was not because of the unionization. Spangler said the NOPD officers were stopping at Loyola to eat after taking a mountain biking class.

“We have not had any interactions with Sodexo to my knowledge,” said Spangler.