Last week, current and former food service workers at St. Luke’s and Good Shepherd hospitals in Allentown, Pa. filed a class action lawsuit alleging wage theft by their employer Sodexo, the target of an international unionizing campaign and a long-time example of the perils of outsourced service work. (In 2009 In These Times published an expose about Sodexo kickback schemes with food providers.)  Sodexo workers at the Pennsylvania hospitals, where union 32BJ SEIU is organizing, say they are forced to work off the clock to meet what they call “Sodexo’s unrealistic production goals.”

They say they typically work 15 to 45 unpaid minutes daily, including being forced to work through breaks and before clocking in, in order to produce and deliver hospital meals on time. The lawsuit filed Dec. 14 is part of an international campaign by the SEIU against Sodexo, which employs about 120,000 people at hospitals, universities and other institutions in the U.S. and also has operations in 80 countries including Canada and Mexico.  Sodexo's workforce includes 45,000 U.S. employees paid by the hour, under what the company says are good terms—which spurred Working Mother Magazine to name them a top hourly employer this spring.

But workers at Good Shepherd and St. Luke’s say they make as little as $8.25 an hour and have many complaints about the way they are treated by Sodexo.  Named plaintiff Shari Kurtz, who prepares salads at Good Shepherd, said low pay has ironically made it hard for her family to afford health care, even as they feed staff and patients at the hospital. (click on link to read full story)