Caf Workers Demand ​“Real Food, Real Jobs”

Can food service workers be fired for giving hungry students extra food?

No, but they still shouldn’t do it, or else they risk losing federal support.

That response came from Superintendent Garth Harries, backed into commenting on the matter at a Board of Ed meeting at L.W. Beecher School. Food service workers dressed in bright pink filled rows of chairs at the meeting to demand more benefits and more leeway to feed students healthy substantive meals, and give them seconds if necessary.

Schools cafeteria workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 217, are about to sit for negotiations on a new contract in June. They came to the board meeting this week to rally for an expanded food program, with a higher quality of food and staffing, said union organizer Cristina Cruz-Uribe.

Cafeteria workers in New Haven have been organized for the past 30 years. They became involved with the ​“Real Food, Real Jobs” campaign in 2012, which advocates for policies that promote sustainable food, Cruz-Uribe said. Click here to read workers’ 2013 report about their goals.

Their 2013 labor agreement expanded the number of cooks by 32, putting one in each school, and included raises for all workers. This negotiation process, they want more time to cook quality food and a program that serves students more real meals, including supper and snacks, she said.

Superintendent Harries said food service should meet the standards of being ​“nutritious, appetizing and cost-effective.” Some schools do not have the capacity to cook from scratch, but more preparation in the kitchen is a good thing, ​“to the extent that the kind of thing can meet the three goals,” he said.

“We see the impact of hunger in the community,” said one food service worker Jasanea Hernandez Monday. Students need at least three ​“good meals” each day and the food should increase in quality. She said she wants to be able to cook and serve hot breakfasts and lunches, to stop handing out packaged food to kids who need nutritional value in their food.

In order to prepare good quality food, ​“we need to work more hours” and work in established teams, instead of working split shifts, Hernandez said.

Food service workers also need affordable health care, higher salaries and ​“income security” when schools unexpectedly close for snow days, she said. ​“The majority of us are breadwinners of our own households.”

Harries said he understands that having stronger teams can be helpful. But ​“flexibility depending on need is part of being more cost-effective,” which the new contract should allow.

Food service worker Danny Gant pointed out that food services has cut down the schools’ expenses. This budget year, the district proposed reducing a food service subsidy from $1.4 million to $1 million, ending the second year of universal lunch with improved reimbursements.

Still food service workers don’t see much of that cost-saving in the form of a salary increase, he said.

Aimy Walker said she has looked at eighth graders on pizza day and told them they couldn’t have more than one slice. ​“God forbid they don’t have anything to eat when they get home,” she said. ​“Not every kid needs huge portions…If they are hungry, we should be able to provide food for them, instead of at the end of the day throwing it in the trash.”

At this statement, the pink-shirted workers in the audience stood and applauded in fervent agreement.

Dorretta Bowman said she was willing to lose her job to feed children who ask for leftover food. ​“Today, there’s not always food in my house. But I know how to take a meal and make three meals out of one,” she said. ​“A child don’t know that.”

Board member Darnell Goldson asked Superintendent Harries whether a food service worker could be fired for giving students leftover food.

“No, I do not want to see food service workers fired for that,” Harries said. But, ​“it’s against protocol because of federal regulations.” He asked them to work with him to follow those regulations or risk losing reimbursements that have contributed to significant revenue in the district. ​“I hate being in this position, being in the middle,” with his heart on one side and the federal government on the other, he said.

“Please don’t take that as license to give additional food, but you will not be fired for it,” Harries said.

Members of the public stood up to make statements in favor of the food service workers. Rodney Williams, a parent of students at Engineering & Science University Magnet School and Career High School, said he was one of 18 siblings and knows what it’s like to ​“look forward to lunch.”

He said taxpayers voted for Mayor Toni Harp because she is a woman and therefore a ​“nurturer … We needed a woman as a mayor that cares about the kids.” Williams urged people in the audience to demand the same supports at the Board of Alders meetings, because alders make the financial decisions that affect the schools.

He also urged board members to ​“sample the food actually being fed” to kids at the schools. ​“When you go to school hungry, you can’t think.”

Chief Operating Officer Will Clark also announced the launch of this year’s expanded Summer Meals program, which offers free food to students at around 90 sites around the city, up from about 77 last year. In the last seven years, the program has expanded annually — going from working out of summer school sites to working from open sites where any child under 18 can participate.

Billly Bromage, of the New Haven Food Policy Council, said 70,000 more students have been fed in the summer over the last two years. This is both a positive metric of the program and a ​“testament to the number of kids in the summer that don’t have enough food in the city.”

Last year, two school buses were fitted to provide dinner at eight sites. This year, two buses were donated to increase that number to 16 sites. These sites run all summer.

The council is working with the Connecticut Food Bank to open a mobile pantry so adults can also get ​“some things to take home,” Bromage said.

He said the council is working to start community outreach to tell people about the program as soon as possible, in partnership with the district, and to get students to other open sites after summer school ends Aug. 5. Students enrolled in summer programs might not know they can get food at other places, but will likely ​“have the same nutritional needs,” Firla said. Some of those school programs have as many as 200 kids, who are scattered into the neighborhoods in early August.

On June 25, volunteers will meet at Goffe Street Park from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. to canvass neighborhoods and tell them food will be available.