These past few months have been, for me, a learning experience. I have learned that behind the face of the person that serves me food, there is a story — one which up until very recently had been neglected.

The Sodexo workers — that is, the Dining Services workers who work day and night in the OR, Flambeaux’s and the C-Store —are going through much more than perhaps can be perceived. To me, it seems they are being treated unjustly by Sodexo management.

I think that not only are they being paid unjustly, with unfair pension plans, healthcare and unfair hiring practices, but they are also subject to intimidation and harassment during their working hours.

Why do I think they are being intimidated? The answer is simple; the workers are forming a union to protect their rights. And even though it is their legal right to do so, it seems Sodexo is doing everything within legal limits to “dissuade” the workers from forming a union.

In doing this, Sodexo is not only ignoring the laws of the United States, but also principles of Catholic social teaching. The pastoral letter “Economic Justice For All,” by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops clearly states: “The (Catholic) Church fully supports the rights of workers to form unions … to secure their rights to fair wages and working conditions.”

How is this “dissuasion” taking place? Two weeks ago, Sodexo management screened a video to the workers presenting a “sketch” in which the characters were expressing anti-union sentiments. This is obviously decorated coercion. It is this kind of subtle tactic that makes it important for students to take a stand with the Sodexo workers.

And they have.

The SGA has passed a resolution in which they explicitly state that they, as a student body, support the rights of the workers to form a union. If I recall the meeting correctly, the resolution was passed with a unanimous vote.

Moreover, over the past week students from all over campus have been signing petitions stating that they “support the right of the Sodexo employees to form a union,” and that they “demand that that Sodexo and the University not infringe upon the workers’ right to form a union.”

As of Feb. 7, 2010, we have more than 450 signatures.

The workers have taken a stand, and the students have voiced their support. As César Chávez said once (I read this in a ‘dp’s daily’ newsletter): “once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.”

Now we must insure that these conditions are met. We, together, must stand for social change. Because that’s what Loyola University is all about.

Or is it?

Rolando Lopez can be reached at [email protected]