Every meal, every day, the cafeteria is open for students hungry for some nourishment to sustain them for classes and beyond. The importance of the cafeteria workers should not be overlooked. Neither should their wages.
The average weekly earnings per person in Guilford County are $622, according to the Economic Development Information System website. The North Carolina living wage is expected to be raised to $8.50 per hour, according to the North Carolina Justice and Community Development Center Living Wage Campaign website. How do wages for the college’s cafeteria workers compare?
Cafeteria worker Anita Pennix doesn’t have any complaints. “I get paid enough,” said Pennix.
Executive Chef Michael Watts reaffirms the view that the salaries are decent. “They are consistent with industry standards in Greensboro for food service industry,” said Watts. “We try to be fair with experience, longevity and performance.”
The college works with Sedexho, a contract food service company, according to Watts. The college pays Sedexho, and it is Sedexho who employs the cafeteria workers.
However, the college believes in the five Quaker testimonies. One of these testimonies is equality. Equality can be interpreted as a respect for all people for their individual talents. Cafeteria workers need to be respected as much as anyone else who works at the college.
In this sense, the college is at least partially responsible for wages, although not being officially in charge. The college should be held responsible for seeing that everyone who is a part of the college community is respected as equals with every other member of the community.
In many cases in the global community, inequality is seen in various forms, often in salaries. Discrepancies in salaries exist because of social perspectives of different jobs. The college has a responsibility to make sure that that doesn’t happen here.
Complaints are in no way pouring from the cafeteria staff. Quite the opposite. However, just because a group of people isn’t asking for respect doesn’t mean it should be denied them. The college can’t let issues like this one slip through the cracks if we want to seriously try to follow the Quaker testimonies.
Categories:
Guilford Cafeteria staff deserves wage equality
Laura Blythe-Goodman
•
September 19, 2003
0
More to Discover