Cafeteria-workers union negotiates pay raise

PHILADELPHIA — Another union has a deal with the Philadelphia School District.

The members of Unite Here Local 634, which represents school cafeteria workers and noontime aides, has ratified a four-year contract that contains benefits savings and work-rule changes, including a weakening of seniority rights.

The 2,000 workers - the school system's lowest paid - will actually get pay bumps that officials said are made possible by allowing the district to temporarily stop payments to the union's health and welfare fund. The fund now has a surplus, and union officials said it could withstand the two-year payment holiday.

Most of the union's employees work part-time, earning $10.88 hourly, or about $8,000 annually. Their health care coverage will not change.

Under the new contract, by the end of the deal all will earn what the city considers to be a "21st century living wage," approximately $12.67 hourly.

The deal is significant as the district continues to grapple with the contract of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, its largest union. The district attempted to cancel the teachers' contract last fall, but has struck out in court so far and is awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court. Officials want work-rule and benefits changes.

"The willingness of a labor partner whose members include our lowest-compensated staff to make a shared sacrifice on behalf of our students and schools sends a powerful message," Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said in a statement. "I am immensely grateful to the members of Local 634 for this demonstration of their support and dedication to our students and schools."

The members of Unite Here Local 634, which represents school cafeteria workers and noontime aides, has ratified a four-year contract that contains benefits savings and work-rule changes, including a weakening of seniority rights.

The 2,000 workers - the school system's lowest paid - will actually get pay bumps that officials said are made possible by allowing the district to temporarily stop payments to the union's health and welfare fund. The fund now has a surplus, and union officials said it could withstand the two-year payment holiday.

Most of the union's employees work part-time, earning $10.88 hourly, or about $8,000 annually. Their health care coverage will not change.

Under the new contract, by the end of the deal all will earn what the city considers to be a "21st century living wage," approximately $12.67 hourly.

The deal is significant as the district continues to grapple with the contract of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, its largest union. The district attempted to cancel the teachers' contract last fall, but has struck out in court so far and is awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court. Officials want work-rule and benefits changes.

"The willingness of a labor partner whose members include our lowest-compensated staff to make a shared sacrifice on behalf of our students and schools sends a powerful message," Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said in a statement. "I am immensely grateful to the members of Local 634 for this demonstration of their support and dedication to our students and schools."