The applause greeting union organizer Len Nalenz’s announcement of the clauses of the University dining staff’s new contract rang loud and long among food service workers who gathered in one of the main Usdan dining rooms last Tuesday.

The contract, which was read out loud to workers at the gathering and subsequently ratified, was the product of several months of often-contentious negotiations between UNITE HERE! Local Chapter 217, which represents all food service workers on campus, and Bon Appétit Management Company.

The new contract stipulates a 30 cent-per-hour wage increase that is retroactive to March 3 and that will be increased again in September, along with a 10-cent per-hour-worked annual rise in pension contributions by the company. Most important to workers, the current healthcare provider was retained.

“I think that we came to a very good agreement,” said union steward Raquel Adorno, who works as a second cook at Usdan. “Through good bargaining…we didn’t lose anything. We were not prepared to lose anything.”

The non-union sushi workers who work in the downstairs Café and are employed by Advanced Fresh Concepts (AFC), a California-based food contractor, will not have their contract renewed next year.

“As a part of the agreement [with the union] there is to be no subcontracting of food service on the campus,” explained Bon Appétit Resident District Manager Delmar Crim. “This agreement precludes sushi workers being able to work on campus.”

Sue Silvestro, a union steward, said that Local Chapter 217 wanted to incorporate sushi workers into the Wesleyan union, but that Bon Appétit resisted.

“It was a matter of if they were incorporated into our union Bon Appétit would have to give them benefits and they didn’t want to incur those expenses,” she said. “We fought hard to include them in the contract.”

The status of the benefit most prized by union workers, healthcare, was uncertain until recently. Bon Appétit signaled at the start of negotiations that they would switch from the present provider, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, to a more cost-effective plan. This would presumably lead to cuts in coverage and higher costs being shouldered by union members. Eventually, Bon Appétit agreed to retain the Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan for both single workers and those with families at no extra cost.

“Healthcare is a number one to all workers,” Adorno said. “Here the consensus is that [union members] would’ve walked [gone on strike] for healthcare, not for monetary reasons.”

Representatives of Bon Appétit emphasized their commitment to providing health care benefits for workers.

“All of the Bon Appétit venues [including] Wesleyan support living wage and health benefits for the workers,” Crim said. “We are very proud to be paying a living wage and providing other benefits to the food service professionals that bring the meals to your table.”

Crim also pledged to advance and let the past rest.

“We are very comfortable with all of the terms and we will support them in spirit and practice,” he said. “I sense overwhelming relief and positive spirit moving forward.”

Nalenz also foresees positive prospects for the future.

“I think we have a good working relationship with Bon Appétit,” he said. “The negotiations were difficult at times, but always respectful.”

Nonetheless, he cautioned against complacency in the University community.

“This [contract] is still, however, right at the edge of a living wage in this country,” he said.