Mason admin to perform 'institutional review' of allegations in dining battle

Video: C2M's George Yanez compiles recap footage from the dining worker strike and union activity last week. For more video, search C2M story tags "SEIU."
-------------------

Following last week's events in which members of George Mason University’s dining services went on strike and spotted the heart of campus with purple-shirted protesters, Mason’s administration announced Friday that they would investigate dining service workers’ complaints about their employer.

Workers employed by the Mason dining services contractor Sodexo have said the company provides poor wages and benefits and have alleged injuries on the job like cuts and burns due to unsafe working conditions.

After being lobbied by GMU Students for Workers Rights, Mason administration met with workers and student representatives Wednesday and later announced that their Office of Internal Audit and Management Services would look into individual worker claims and analyze the competitiveness of workers’ wages and benefits.

According to the post on Mason's media and public relations page, Senior Vice President Maurice Scherrens said the findings of the audit will also "determine whether, if problems do exist, if they are isolated or a systemic problem."

Scherrens estimates the review process to be complete within three weeks, according to the post.

Related:
 >> Search past C2M coverage for "SEIU"

The above article has been adapted for the web from the Monday, Sept. 13 issue of Broadside. Front page photo of last week's Wednesday protest taken by C2M Photojournalist Jenna Beaver.