Published: February 22, 2010

The Service Employees International Union has filed two complaints with the National Labor Relations Board charging that Sodexo workers trying to unionize at Lafayette College and Lehigh Valley Hospital Muhlenberg were "unlawfully interrogated, threatened and disciplined" by management of the food service provider, according to a news release.

Sodexo did not return several phone calls seeking comment on the complaint.

    "My co-workers are scared of management finding out that we are interested in forming a union and that they will lose their jobs," Lafayette Sodexo worker Genevieve Repsher is quoted saying in the union news release. "I will always speak up. Now, I know we need a union to improve our jobs and our lives and I'm going to organize and stand up for our rights."

Dorothy Moore-Duncan, regional director of National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., could not comment on the specifics of the Lafayette complaint other than to confirm it is working on one.

    “Whether or not that has merit will be determined by an investigation,” she said today.

She said deadlines for when an investigation should be completed are determined by the seriousness of the complaint. There are three categories, with number one being the least serious and number three being most serious.

“This is a category three,” Moore-Duncan said, adding that the labor board has 49 days from the original filing date to complete the investigation.

SEIU spokesman Matt Painter said efforts to unionize cafeteria workers at the two local locations began at the end of last year and are focused on better wages, benefits and working conditions. There has yet to be a vote. He said other Sodexo operations have unionized and the local effort is part of a national drive.

The union says organizing efforts of Sodexo workers are also under way at Muhlenberg and Moravian colleges and Sacred Heart Hospital. Sodexo employs more than 1,000 people in the Lehigh Valley and 110,000 nationwide, according to the union.

Sodexo's Web site claims the company is the world's number three outsourcer of services.

Read the complaint from food service workers at Lafayette College.