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Hundreds of Appeals for School Food Safety Delivered to Governor's Office

Trenton, NJ - With support from community groups and state legislators, school cafeteria workers delivered appeals from hundreds of parents and workers to the Governor today asking him to raise standards in food service contracts, including better wages, benefits and training.

"School children and parents depend on the commitment and dedication of the food service workers who make them lunch everyday," said Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney. "We must work together to ensure these workers are able to support their families."

More than 200 million tax dollars a year are spent on food service contracts for New Jersey school cafeterias where workers typically earn poverty-level wages with few, if any, benefits. Without jobs that allow them to support their families, many of these workers are indirectly adding costs to the State budget by depending on publicly-funded programs to subsidize their health care, food or housing.

"I love working with school children," said Karen Preston, a food service worker from Plumstead and mother of four. "But I'm working three jobs to put food on the table for my own children."

"New Jersey school cafeteria workers make sure all our school children, regardless of income, receive healthy lunches and breakfasts," said Kevin Brown, 32BJ New Jersey Director. "But the same publicly-funded program that makes sure school children are fed is forcing these caring workers and their families into the poverty they're working against."

The group is also advocating for comprehensive training for food service workers that will build upon the State's eight-hour session set to begin in January 2010. Currently, the State has limited training mandates, which allow food service management companies to determine what, if any, training new school cafeteria workers receive.

"The peanut-butter scare reminds us how important food safety is, and New Jersey must do more to ensure our school food service workers are getting the training they need to protect our children," said Brown.

With more than 100,000 members, including 7,800 in New Jersey, 32BJ is the largest property services union in the country.