Employees of a company that staffs the Orange County Convention Center successfully negotiated a new minimum wage of $18 per hour.
Members of the Unite Here Local 737 workers union, which represents various food and hospitality workers across Orange County, announced the conclusion of their negotiations with Sodexo.
In short, the group was successful in obtaining its two major goals: An increase of the minimum wage for all workers to $18 and hour, and the establishment of a pension fund entirely funded by the company.
During a press conference on Wednesday, January 25, UHL 737 Financial Secretary Treasurer Angela McKinnon described the terms of the new contract and the months of negotiations that preceded it.
“We have won life-changing wages and a pension,” said McKinnon, surrounded by members of the negotiating committee that dealt with Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company that is headquartered in France and provides staff for the Orange County Convention Center.
McKinnon says that beginning this year, all workers at the Orange County Convention Center will make at least $18 per hour. Additionally, a union pension that only the company contributes to will be available to full-time workers. According to McKinnon, many of the workers had been working for decades without such a guarantee.
“Every worker should be able to support themselves after they retire,” said McKinnon, who was the chief negotiator during talks with Sodexo.
“We also are proud that we have won a lifetime change for more people and have a pension. This is definitely a life-changing situation,” said McKinnon.
The change means that by August 2024, every worker will have at least a $5.50/hour raise. The first $3 raise is retroactive to August 2022. After that, a $1.25/hour raise will be implemented each year for the rest of the agreement.
Negotiations began in August 2022 between Sodexo and a UHL negotiating committee that represented “just about every job classification and every spoken language,” according to McKinnon.
In December, over 200 workers pledged to strike if their requests were not met. On Wednesday, McKinnon closed the chapter on that potential route.
“We will not be going on strike. Instead, we have won a new standard for hospitality workers in central Florida,” said McKinnon.
The raises only cover those who are employed by Sodexo and does not account for thousands of other workers who are still looking to negotiate a similar contract from Disney, Universal, and hotels and restaurants in south Orlando. Disney is proposing raises of “$1 a year for most workers,” according to the organization. Union members are set to vote no the offer this week, with most indicating they will be voting against.
For more information on the union, its members, or its initiatives, visit the Unite Here Local 737 website.