NEA Staff & Cafeteria Workers Picket Culinary Seasons
Friday, April 25, 2014(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
"If I had a little bit more money I
could pay the bills and save some for my boys," said Jessica Reyes.
"I want them to go to college and not have to work a job like mine."
Reyes works in the cafeteria at the National Education Association's
headquarters on 16th Street, which is operated by Culinary Seasons. Culinary
was the target of a noontime picket yesterday by dozens of union members
because the company has refused to match the wages and healthcare now paid at
other cafeterias represented by Unite Here Local 23. The Local 23 members were
joined on the line by members of the NEA Staff Organization (NEASO).
"It's been unifying for our members to see themselves as part of the
broader labor community and to help our brothers and sisters in another
union," said NEASO's Susan Nogan.
- report/photo by
Chris Garlock