By Erin Delmore
Correspondent
“You cannot live on $10 an hour anywhere in this country, especially in the high-cost state of New Jersey,” said 32BJ SEIU State Director Kevin Brown.
A new contract is on the menu for school cafeteria workers. For the first time, representatives from six districts are bargaining for a master contract with Chartwells food service company.
“Our two main goals are quality affordable health care and $15 an hour for the workers,” said Brown.
Cafeteria workers make around nine to 13 bucks an hour and pay out around $2,000 a year for their health insurance.
“You know right now I don’t have any health insurance because of the simple fact that the health insurance for the school is not affordable. You can’t afford it,” Leslie Williams from Lincoln Avenue School.
Williams has been working in her school’s cafeteria for more than a quarter century. She makes $14.45 an hour. She says that’s the same as workers who have only six or seven years under their belts.
“I’ve been doing this for about 27 years. And I’ve actually right now I’m feeding some of the kids that I fed their parents years ago and I also have teachers at the school that I’ve fed,” Williams said.
She says people underestimate the work she does.
“When you come to that cafeteria looking for me, you’re figuring my job is only to feed your children. But no, my job is to make sure your child is getting a very nutritious meal. At times, I’m also feeding your children when there’s not enough food at your house,” Williams said.
Workers from six school districts are bargaining on behalf of 300 food service workers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
“We’re all in the same boat, more or less. You know, it’s called survival, and a little bit more would help us all very much,” said Shirley Sgro from Parsons Elementary School.
Lina Estepan makes about $10.50 an hour part-time at Hackensack High School.
“If I’m doing this and struggling, how many people out there are doing the same thing?” asked Estepan.
She works a second job overnight cleaning buses for NJ Transit.
What does her day look like?
“I get up at 6:30 in the morning and I take my kids to school and then I go to work so I can be at work by 9 o’clock in the morning and then we prepare for lunch. Lunch starts at about 10:15/10:25 and it goes until about 1:15,” she said.
From there? “I go home, pick up my kids, I go home and try to make dinner for them,” Estepan said.
She goes to her second job at 8 p.m. and finishes at 4:30 a.m.
The next day? “I’m up at 6:30 in the morning again,” she said. Getting two hours of sleep a night? “Maybe so, yes.”
What does she want people to know about her and the work she does?
“How much I care about my job. I take pride in doing my job. We’re here working hard, so I believe we deserve better wages, better health care,” said Estepan.
The cafeteria workers we spoke with said they’re hoping to reach an agreement before the new school year begins.