Reports Surface of Food Service Employees' Mistreatment During Winter Olympics

Member of the Legislative Assembly Calls on VANOC to Investigate Whether Sodexo Violated Workers' Rights at Olympics

SEIU Joins with MLA, City Councillor, and Workers to Expose Sodexo's Mistreatment of Workers and Inadequate Training on Food-Handling during the Olympics

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hours before the Opening Ceremonies of the Paralympics today, elected officials, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Sodexo workers called on VANOC (the Vancouver Organizing Committee) to investigate Sodexo's behavior during the Winter Olympics.

Threatening to mar the spirit and success of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Vancouver, reports are surfacing of Sodexo's mistreatment of its employees during the Winter Olympics, including potential cases of unpaid overtime, failure to adequately train workers for the jobs they were asked to perform, and not providing workers adequate food and drink while working.

The story of Snezana (Ana) Stefanovic, a resident of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, who was hired by Sodexo to be a job-counter attendant, was read to the crowd: "I was hired to take on a concierge role, but Sodexo switched me to the kitchen instead. I asked to receive proper food safety training before I handled the athletes' food, but Sodexo refused, and then fired me."

A letter was sent to VANOC today, said Maya Bhullard, SEIU researcher, asking for an investigation of Sodexo's behavior. The letter listed a number of claims from some of the 900 workers that Sodexo hired for the Olympics and Paralympics. These charges included failure to pay for time spent in training, late and absent paychecks, unpaid overtime, rationing of food and water, insufficient break time, and failure to provide food safety training adequate for the tasks workers were asked to perform.

Raj Chouhan, the Official Opposition Critic for Labour and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Burnaby-Edmonds, called for the provincial government to investigate Sodexo's behavior. He noted that the workers' issues uncovered by SEIU were possible violations of British Columbia's Employment Standards Act. "The Liberal government and VANOC should have ensured these workers received all the protections they were entitled to under our Employment Standards Act - and any violations of these rights should be fully investigated, and not left to the workers to try to solve on their own."

Vancouver City Councillor, Raymond Louie, joined with SEIU Local 2 Branch Local 244 President Mike McDonald in raising concern over Sodexo's mistreatment of workers. "The Olympics were an extraordinary event for our city. The workers who provided service during the Games helped to make them a success and need to be treated fairly."

With 2.2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers not just corporations and CEOs benefit from today's global economy.

SOURCE SEIU