Cooking Up a New Cafeteria Culture.

SEIU Local 99
Jul 20, 2017 · 5 min read

Margaret Williams has always loved to cook. Her passion grew out of watching her mom do things like whip up a quick cake when folks stopped by unannounced. Margaret noticed how the hospitality of food made people feel at home…it brought people together.

“And I love children, too,” she says. “So when I was looking for work a few years ago and heard about a school cafeteria job, it seemed like it was made for me.”

And, like so many SEIU Local 99 members who help create a great school environment, she knows she’s contributing to quality education. She knows a lot of families struggle and that sometimes the only meals children get are the breakfast and lunch they eat in the school cafeteria — and these meals help them with their studies. Margaret makes it a point to model good manners for the children, too. Each day she greets them and expects a greeting in return.

Margaret has worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District for seven years, quickly working up from sub to senior.

“I love kids’ relationship to food. If they’re having a bad day and they come into the cafeteria and they like what we’ve made for lunch, they’ll smile and say ‘Oooo, pizza!’ and you can just see their day get better. Then my day gets better, too.”

Sadly, Margaret has had some pretty bad days.

“I just feel like there’s a culture of bullying in the kitchen. And it’s not just one isolated school — it seems to be at so many schools in the District. Like a real deep-rooted cafeteria culture. At one school I worked at after I was promoted to Senior, one of my co-workers said I should watch out because the Senior before me died of stress. It’s scary…and exhausting…to keep speaking up about it. And at first when I’d speak up, the area supervisor would sort of blame me. That made it even worse. But just when I was starting to give up and my heart was breaking, I met some other LAUSD employees who were very active in our union. They told me not to give up,” said Margaret. “And you know what? I realized that I won’t give up. I can’t give up.”

And she hasn’t. Every once in a while, someone comes along with such an enormous appetite for justice that they can’t rest when they see bullying or unfair treatment. That’s Margaret.

“I’ve had to transfer several times. That was the only option that my area supervisor would offer as a solution. Because I spoke out, I got labeled as troublemaker. I was ashamed and embarrassed — I mean no one is a saint, but I couldn’t figure out why I was leaving another school,” said Margaret. “I won’t leave a school again. That’s not the way to improve things. If we’re going to change this atmosphere of bullying, then we have to stand up to it. We have to get management to see us as partners in making our cafeterias great for the kids. So me transfer again? No!”

Now, Margaret encourages other SEIU Local 99 members to work to improve things at their schools — wherever she meets them. She saw someone in an LAUSD cafeteria uniform at a gas station the other day. She learned that the woman wasn’t being allowed to take breaks on the job. Margaret told her about her rights and her union.

“She replied ‘Oh, no. I’m fine now.’ I think people are fearful. That’s what I hope to change as I get more involved in my union. I want to encourage people to stand up against injustice,” says Margaret. “Because it’s life-changing! Together, we can improve our work environments. Imagine if there were more smiles? What if we weren’t afraid to help each other? Y’know, a happy workplace can lead to a happy home, too. If it’s peaceful at work, then you don’t have to bring it home and lose sleep and bring stress into the home. Whole lives could change!”

As part of her work to improve things at our workplaces, Margaret joined the union’s Cafeteria Labor Management Committee in March of 2016. So now she joins other union member leaders to sit down with the District’s top decision makers to resolve workplace concerns. For example, too many cafeteria workers were uncomfortable in the hot polyester uniforms the District introduced. The Cafeteria Labor Management Committee successfully changed the uniform policy to allow workers to wear scrubs as they did before.

Last fall, Margaret joined her union’s Member Political Organizer program, taking a “loss time” break from her District job to work full time on her union’s efforts to ensure that California’s school funding initiative, Proposition 55, passed.

“The next thing I’d like to do with my union is go through the Member Leadership Academy. That’s where I hope to learn more about building strength in our union,” says Margaret, who is working with other District Food Service Workers (like Grace Menjivar) to continue organizing and improving school kitchens.


Dozens of cafeteria workers submitted a petition to the Los Angeles Unified School District. They reported experiencing:

— Intimidation and humiliation
— Unfair distribution of hours overtime and workload
— Being told to serve expired food or food that’s not in compliance with other food safety rules

As a result of bullying at work, workers reported that they:

— Had to seek medical attention
— Often felt anxious going to work
— Went home feeling depressed and cried at least once a week
— Had to be transferred
— Had been unfairly labeled a troublemaker


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As the Los Angeles Unified School District steps up its efforts to end school bullying, its “Lunch Ladies” complain of rampant bullying.

Like many classified school employees in California and across the country, Margaret and other members of SEIU Local 99: Education Workers United use their collective bargaining rights and labor management committees to establish the good working conditions necessary to deliver quality student services. To learn more, visit www.qualityschoolsbetterlives.org.

Quality Schools, Better Lives

Tales, dreams and opinions from the dedicated education workers of SEIU Local 99. We are child care providers, custodians, cafeteria workers, school bus drivers, classroom assistants and others in K-12 schools, early learning environments and community colleges.

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SEIU Local 99

Written by

EDUCATION WORKERS UNITED

Quality Schools, Better Lives

Tales, dreams and opinions from the dedicated education workers of SEIU Local 99. We are child care providers, custodians, cafeteria workers, school bus drivers, classroom assistants and others in K-12 schools, early learning environments and community colleges.

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