Cafeteria Workers at Morton West Want Better Pay: ‘Merecemos un salario justo’
Illustration by Paintbristle.
By Hillary Flores
When Maria began working at J.Sterling District 201 more than 9 years ago, she never imagined that she would one day organize a protest against the district for a fair wage.
Food workers like Maria at the District’s Morton West Campus have come together to demand higher wages and pandemic pay from the district– a request that is still in the midst of negotiation.
Maria, who decided to only use her first name for fear of retaliation, is one of the organizers behind the efforts. She says that she and her colleagues have been fighting for fair wages for years– only to get an increase of cents despite their decades of work.
Maria currently makes $13.18 an hour, which is 18 cents more than the Cook County minimum wage. She used to make $13 but was given an .18 cent raise after workers first brought their concerns forward to the district earlier this year.
“We are already talking about three years fighting that increase, and the district has never refused to give it...but when they finally give us an increase it's only for like cents and we don’t know why,” she stated.
In September, workers submitted a letter to human resources on behalf of the food service department workers of District 201 at the Morton West Campus asking for a raise in wages and adequate compensation as they worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district did provide them with an increase of two dollars during the beginning of the pandemic, which brought their wage up to $15– according to Maria, but this was only for three months before the school year resumed.
Maria says that as of now, she’s trying to make ends meet using her savings. But, she expressed that she’s worried that this will no longer be enough.
“Inflation is higher, everything is super expensive and I’m earning the same amount,” she said.
A struggle that her colleague Maria Padilla shares.
Maria Padilla has worked for 20 years at the Morton West Campus. She said she has witnessed colleagues leave the workplace due to low payment conditions.
“Work is not easy, it’s a bit tough and people don’t stay here because they don’t earn a sufficient amount,” Padilla said.
She says that sometimes her and her colleagues have to take on the work usually performed by 2 or 3 other people when some do not show up for the day, but are still getting paid the same amount.
“It’s very frustrating having to wait so long [for an increase] when you know that the school has a lot of money to distribute on different things,” Padilla expressed.
Linda Brito, a labor organizer for Centro de Trabajadores Unidos (CTU), said that struggles like these are not uncommon, especially when it comes to communities of color. CTU’s mission is to bring “power among low-wage and immigrant workers and advance systemic change to stabilize low-income immigrant communities and communities of color.”
“[...]Because of systemic issues and racism, low income workers who live in poverty and also a lot of immigrant communities are victims to things like wage theft and being underpaid,” Brito said. “Corporations, business owners, unfortunately think that because of whatever labels society wants to place on our community, there’s justification to exploit our community members.”
Brito expressed that the law caters and benefits employers, and due to this it is common for employees to fear retaliation. For example, in Illinois “at will” employers can fire employees without any reason.
For now as these District 201 workers continue their fight, Maria’s son, Christian, 24, said he could not be anymore proud of his mom for continuing her fight and standing up for what is right.
“I never really expected my mom to push back on something that she thought was unfair. I think it's just because I have this idea that my parents don't think that way and they kind of just go through life [being] accepting,” he said. “ We're kind of fighting against a lot of odds.”
Maria said that as of Nov. 30, District 201 has given a verbal agreement that they will give an additional 8% increase to some employees. This would be an additional dollar for Maria. The district has not confirmed this information with Cicero Independiente. The district superintendent has not responded to emails for comment on this story.
Maria says that ideally, everyone should at least make a base salary of $15.00 an hour with incremental raises based on years worked.
Workers are scheduled to have another meeting with the district in February of 2022. In the meantime, Maria wants parents and students to know about what is going on.
Asked how the community can support her and other employees, Maria said “Please contact the district and let them know that we deserve a just wage because we are essential at the school. Parents and students should know the conditions we are facing.”
Hillary Flores is a freelance journalist and student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. You can follow her on twitter @hgflores_.
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