EVANSTON (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Northwestern University food service and hospitality workers have voted to authorize a strike.
They’ve been working for about six months without a contract.
UNITE HERE Local 1 said some 500 cashiers, dishwashers, cooks and other people working for Compass Group voted overwhelmingly in support of a strike.
After casting ballots at the Evanston Public Library, they wore buttons that say, “I don’t want to strike, but I will.”
The union said the average food service and hospitality worker has more than nine years of experience at Northwestern.
One of them, Veronica Reyes, said,after 15 years as a cashier at the Foster Walker Dining Hall, she’s worried she’ll never be able to retire because Compass has not contributed enough to her pension.
The union said they are looking for job security, higher wages and retirement benefits.
WBBM has reached out to Northwestern and Compass for comment.
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