In my column for the Feb. 11 edition of The Maroon, I spoke out against what I believe are Sodexo management’s anti-union activities.

That week, Terry Shelley, one of Sodexo’s most beloved employees in this campus, was fired. The official charge was that she was “stealing” from the OR.

Yet, from what I understand, allowing certain members of the community (among them LUPD officers and friends and family of Sodexo management) to enter the OR without pay was a practice that had existed even before Shelley’s employment in Loyola. If so, then why did management fire her at that moment, since I believe they surely must have known about this since before her employment?

Was this, then, an act of coercion on Sodexo management’s part? After all, Shelley was the face of the union campaign at Loyola.  The semester before she was fired, she attended a national SEIU conference, speaking publicly about her experience in the union drive.

When taking these factors into consideration, Sodexo’s charge against Shelley for theft has lost its legitimacy for me, and I believe that this was not so much a termination of an employee as it was an affirmation of power. Many people who advocate unionizing admit that this was, as a friend of mine said, “a stupid move.”

Moreover, I believe it is yet another sign of the disrespect that Sodexo management has consistently shown to their employees since the beginning of this semester when the workers presented their petition to form a union and opened the door for  a dialogue.

In her campus-wide letter, Loyola Vice President and Associate Provost M.L. “Cissy” Petty summarized what this dialogue should entail: “Collective bargaining involves workers organizing together…to  meet, discuss, and negotiate upon work conditions with their employers.” She then added that the administration recognizes the worker’s right to unionize and supports the outcome of this dialogue.

The problem is that this dialogue has not taken place. There has been no discussion or negotiation.  The dining services workers have attempted to form a body in order to represent themselves as a social group. They have attempted to form a voice for themselves.

Instead, I believe Sodexo management has ignored the workers and intimidated them through “optional” video showings and employee termination.

I think this, however one may want to put it, is coercive power and it is unethical.

I thus publicly ask a question to the administration, faculty, staff and student body of this Jesuit university: Where do we stand on this matter? While some of us may not agree with unionizing, do we also agree with coercion and disrespect? Do we support the abuse of power?