Rights groups raise concern over Sodexo practices

Two recently released reports chronicle worker accounts of unfair practices by Sodexo, and European multinational corporations, including Sodexo, that take steps to keep workers in the United States from organizing, according to rights activist who spoke out Wednesday.

The living and working conditions of Sodexo employees in the United States and other countries do not meet standards for human and workplace rights, according to TransAfrica Forum, a global justice organization focusing on Africa, and Human Rights Watch, an international human rights advocacy group.

Leaders from TransAfrica and other human rights organizations plan to address those complaints more fully at a Sodexo shareholder meeting scheduled for next week in Paris, according to a press release.

Sodexo is the food service contractor at George Mason University. Several Sodexo employees on the Mason campus have pushed unionization efforts and spoken out on alleged unsafe working conditions at Mason over the past year.

During Wednesday’s conference call President of TransAfrica Nicole Lee said her organization has received complaints about Sodexo, which prompted the investigation and report.

The TransAfrica report looks into what the group calls “abuses” by Sodexo in five countries, including the United States, Colombia, Guinea and Morocco. The report claims Sodexo employs people at low wages and fails to pay workers for the entire time spent on the job as well as payment deduction for unused breaks and uneaten meals.

The Human Rights Watch report took a broader angle, looking not just at Sodexo, but at the behavior of major European companies who expand operation to the United States. The report suggests these European companies assume different policies for working conditions and human rights in their American operations than they do in European operations.

Actor Danny Glover, who participated in the call and who plans to speak out at the Jan. 24 shareholder meeting, said he hopes to demand a shift in Sodexo organizational policies so that the company abides by international standards of human and labor rights.

In an October 2010 press release, Sodexo said they have been the target of a “smear campaign” in the United States and that as a company, they support worker rights to organize.

To see C2M's past coverage of Sodexo and dining workers, click here.