In August, dining workers at the Rhode Island School of Design officially unionized under the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 251. Since then, the union has filed multiple unfair labor allegations against RISD, claiming that management has retaliated against organizers and engaged in bad faith bargaining.
According to Laurel Meskin, a union organizer and dining experience associate at RISD, workers initially decided to unionize due to a lack of seniority compensation and respect from management. Meskin said he reached out to Teamsters last October and was connected with Virginia Tavares, the organizer of Teamsters Local 251.
Dining employees will be added to an existing contract for custodians, groundskeepers and movers at RISD, but additional contract language specific to dining services will be negotiated, according to Tavares. General union protections, like management rights and grievance processes, will be the same for employees in both departments, she added.
In an email sent to the RISD community, RISD Vice President for Human Resources Lauren Bowen confirmed that “RISD and the union will engage in a bargaining process to determine the terms under which dining employees will join that union’s current contract.”
The RISD facilities staff, who are also part of the Teamsters 251 union, previously organized a 24-hour strike in March 2023 and a two-week-long strike in April 2023, both following wage disagreements in contract negotiations.
The April strike ended after RISD agreed to a contract including “wage increases averaging 33%, with a 22% increase to take effect July 2023, wage retroactivity to October 2022, strong benefits, longevity bonuses and more,” according to a 2023 Teamsters press release.
Tavares said that RISD attempted to discourage dining workers from organizing by promising promotions for voting against unionization.
RISD did not respond to a question about whether RISD discouraged organizing or promised promotions for staff who did not vote for unionization.
In an email to The Herald, RISD spokesperson Jaime Marland wrote, “The union asked us to respond to their initial information request within 15 business days (by Sept. 16), which we have done, and contract negotiations will begin at a future date. We are committed to negotiating this contract in good faith at the bargaining table.”
Teamsters 251 has filed two separate unfair labor practice cases to the NLRB. The first, filed on Aug. 20, contains allegations of coercive actions and statements, interrogation and changes in the terms and conditions of employment. The other, filed on Sept. 8, alleges bad faith bargaining.
Romano and Vincent Guadalupe, a cook at RISD, alleged that since the unionization efforts, RISD stopped providing flexibility with complimentary meals, now limiting employees to one free meal per day. According to Tavares and Guadalupe, additional food is otherwise thrown away.
RISD did not respond to a question about changes in the complimentary meal policy.
Additionally, Guadalupe and Tavares alleged that veteran employees had their hours cut in favor of temporary workers from Snapchef. Guadalupe and Meskin allege that these temporary employees often are less experienced than permanent employees.
Tavares wrote to The Herald that she plans to file additional ULP charges about these allegations.
“We respect every employee’s decision to unionize or not, and our focus is on supporting all employees regardless of their union status,” Bowen wrote in the message to the RISD community. “RISD does not tolerate retaliation against any employee for exercising their choice.”
Emily Feil is a university news and metro editor covering staff & student labor and RISD. She is from Long Beach, NY and plans to concentrate in English and international & public affairs. In her free time, she can be found watching bad TV and reading good books.
Izabella Piatkowski is a senior staff writer covering the Rhode Island School of Design.
