LA Times: Dining hall workers at Pomona College vote to unionize

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-college-workers-20130501,0,7115949.story



Union members and students protest the firing of immigrant workers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / March 30, 2012)

By Carla Rivera

May 1, 2013, 4:01 p.m.


Dining hall workers at Pomona College have voted to unionize, culminating a three-year campaign that thrust the small liberal arts college into controversy over immigration policy and labor rights.

In the election Tuesday, 83 members of the dining hall staff cast ballots, voting 57 to 26 to join UNITE HERE, Local 11, a union that represents about 20,000 hospitality and food service workers in Southern California.

“I feel very happy we made it,” said Benny Avina, 46, a catering chef who has worked at the college for 27 years, starting as a dishwasher. “We need job security and respect — it’s not about money. We’re doing this for the good of workers, students and also for the college; it’s going to be better for everyone in the community.”

The union campaign gained national attention in 2011, when the college fired 17 immigrant workers, most of them dining hall staff, who could not provide proper work documents. Many students, faculty and alumni held protests in support of the workers, asserting that the firings were related to union organizing efforts.

FULL story at link.