School cafeteria workers' deal would raise low pay

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."

Nicole Hunt, representing Local 634, said that members were pleased to have a deal two years after their old pact expired.

"Folks are excited, because they haven't had a pay increase in over a year," said Hunt, a former district cafeteria worker who now works as an organizer for the union. "We care about the kids, but we also have to take care of our own families. People are just happy we have a contract."

Local 634 joins the district's principals' union and SEIU 32BJ, which represents blue-collar workers, in reaching new contracts with significant concessions.

As a result of the new agreement, seniority will no longer be the only factor governing layoffs and other staffing decisions. Hite has stressed that he needs this flexibility in any teachers' contract.

"With this third agreement in hand, we remain focused on achieving results from our other labor negotiations that will similarly benefit our students and schools, and on pressing our local and state funders to commit to equitable and sustainable funding for public education," Hite said.

The School Reform Commission is scheduled to vote on the contract at its meeting scheduled for Thursday. The deal would run through September 2017.

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