(POTSDAM, NEW YORK) - SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Local 200United Members employed at Clarkson-Sodexo are calling upon the company to deliver fair wages to its Food Service Workers.

The average Union Member at Clarkson-Sodexo makes less than $16,000 per year.

Even as Seasonal Employees, this pathetically low income makes it impossible for Union Members to earn the Minimum Housing Wage for St. Lawrence County, even if they work a full-time job at $20/hour during the Summer months, SEIU Local 200 United said.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a Worker must earn at least $36,000 per year in order to be able to afford to live in a two-bedroom apartment in the County.

Sadly, Union Members at Clarkson-Sodexo are being told at the negotiation table that the goal of getting Food Service Workers to the minimum housing wage is not a priority for Sodexo and that Clarkson University can't afford it, SEIU Local 200 United Officials said.

Clarkson University is tasked with educating the future of our country and establishing themselves as role models for students who attend the University.

Clarkson has a motto: “A Workman that needeth not to be ashamed.”  

Yet the fact Workers who feed and deliver the nutritional needs to students cannot even afford to live a healthy life in the community where they work makes it very difficult for the University to live up to its motto, the Union said.

It's hard to avoid shame when Sodexo is completely content paying poverty wages to its Employees, they added. 

SEIU Local 200 United are simply asking to make a wage that allows them to be able to take care of themselves and their families and avoid the economic hardships associated with poverty wages, SEIU Local 200 United said.

SEIU Local 200 United and its allies are now calling upon Sodexo to live up to the University motto and create a pathway in the next contract to achieving the minimum housing wage.

For More, Go To: Support SEIU Members at Clarkson U