Our Recent Victories
Muhlenberg College
Muhlenberg College dining workers began organizing in the fall of 2024 to address long standing problems with low pay, unaffordable health insurance, and management favoritism. In just a few months, the vast majority of workers had signed union cards. With the support of hundreds of students, the dining workers rallied on campus in November, announcing their intention to file for a union election. Workers took pictures holding “Union Yes” signs to show their support, while students papered the dining hall’s suggestion board with napkins carrying messages of solidarity. On December 11th, the workers won their election with an overwhelming 80% of the vote.
After winning their union, Muhlenberg workers and students kept organizing to win a strong first contract. The workers circulated a petition demanding significant pay increases and affordable health insurance, garnering the signatures of a supermajority of employees. Over 700 members of the campus community signed a petition supporting the dining workers’ contract demands, and students routinely stickered up in the dining hall, demanding a fair contract. Students and workers rallied together again in March before delivering their petitions to both Sodexo management and the university administration.
In April of 2025, the Muhlenberg workers ratified their first contract. The new contract brought major pay increases for all employees, along with a new health insurance plan that reduced out-of-pocket expenses significantly and a system of seniority to protect against favoritism.
Evan Hallman, a chef de partie at Muhlenberg College said of the contract:
“It really feels like it’s a dam, and then all of a sudden, a whole flood comes out. It’s not about me, it’s not about you, it’s about us. The raises in our contract are life changing. Muhlenberg Dining Workers won’t have to live in constant anxiety over how we will get by week to week. The new insurance we have makes healthcare so much more accessible. I have medical conditions that require regular treatment and with this contract, that will be more affordable. My coworkers with families will have better coverage for their spouses and kids. It feels like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders.”
Kutztown University
In June 2022, Kutztown University dining workers won their union after a several-month campaign that saw them stand up to their employer and to the university where they work. The food service contractor that employs the workers held union-busting captive audience meetings and Kutztown University leadership even at one point interfered with the unionization campaign. But the workers were not to be stopped, and ultimately prevailed in a landslide union election victory.
Driven by outrage over their low pay and poor working conditions – as well as by serious concerns over how these issues impacted students – KU dining workers began organizing in October 2021. At the time, Kutztown was the last public university in Pennsylvania where food service workers did not have a union. Management seemed to want to keep it that way. A short time after workers launched their campaign, managers responded by trying to bust the union, spreading disinformation about labor unions and attempting to intimidate workers. University leadership even stepped in at one point to interfere with recognition of the workers’ union.
None of this could stop the KU workers. With strong support from students and faculty, the workers held a series of rallies on campus to show the university and their employer that they weren’t backing down. Students and faculty joined the workers at these rallies, signed letters and petitions in support of the workers, and demonstrated their support for workers and their union on social media.
The workers won their union on June 30, 2022, and by the start of the 2022 fall semester, they had negotiated and ratified a strong union contract with significant wage raises, improvements to their health insurance, and a real voice at work, among other advancements.
Clarion University
In 2021, dining workers at Clarion University demonstrated remarkable solidarity during their successful campaign to win their union and bring improvements to their workplace. Nearly 100% of workers signed cards expressing their desire to join Workers United and almost as many took public action to demand recognition for their union and a fair contract.
The workers also enjoyed strong solidarity from Clarion students and faculty. In April 2021, student and faculty supporters demonstrated alongside the dining workers, demanding that the university and its food service contractor recognize the workers’ union and negotiate a fair contract prior to the start of the Fall 2021 semester. Dozens of other students and faculty who were away from campus due to the pandemic demonstrated their support for workers on social media.
In June 2021, the Clarion dining workers officially won recognition of their union. And in August, just in time for the start of the Fall semester, they ratified their first union contract, bringing what was for most workers, the highest raises they had ever enjoyed during their time working at Clarion. The contract also included, among other things, new and improved health insurance and retirement benefits, seniority rights, systems to give workers a say in workplace disputes and a fair process for handling discipline.
east stroudsburg university
Around 100 dining workers at East Stroudsburg University (ESU) won their union in 2020 following a six-month campaign that overcame the toughest of obstacles: the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, an organizing committee of ESU dining workers had just built majority support for their union and were ready to stand with ESU students and faculty to demand recognition of the union from their employer and the university when COVID put a sudden end to in-person classes and closed down food service operations at the school. Despite the tremendous setback, ESU workers kept organizing throughout the spring and summer, meeting on Zoom and reaching out to coworkers by phone, text and email. Workers also met with ESU student leaders and launched a joint student-worker online campaign demanding both union recognition and COVID safety precautions on campus.
The ESU workers were rewarded for their persistence and solidarity when their employer agreed to voluntarily recognize their union in August 2020. A few months later, the workers ratified their first contract, winning major raises, important improvements to their health insurance and retirement benefits, job security and a real voice on issues arising at the job.
