The document discusses issues facing unionization efforts for food service workers in the U.S. Capitol. It notes that while Senate food workers recently went on strike, similar efforts have so far failed for House workers due to jurisdictional issues between unions. House workers interviewed express frustration over the lack of representation and living wages. The document also profiles a new community relations officer hired by the food service contractor Sodexo to address customer complaints for House cafeterias and facilitate better working conditions.

1. 8 September 22, 2015 | rollcall.com
workersintothefoldatthebeginningof2014,
butwerestoppedwhentheServiceEmployees
InternationalUnionassertedlegaljurisdiction
over the Senate workers.
A spokesperson for the SEIU local chapter
told CQ Roll Call on Sept. 11 there was no
current effort to organize Senate workers.
For the House workers, watching their
Senate and CVC counterparts go on strike
and detail their struggle in op-eds to no avail
is frustrating.
“To me it’s kind of sad,” Jamia Vaden, a
31-year-old cook in the Longworth House
Office Building, said in a recent interview.
“Because people have family, you have kids,
it’s like, you have bills. And to know that
somebody is working on Capitol Hill and is
homeless, with congressmen and senators, I
just, it’s just mind boggling.”
“I feel they need to be represented by a
union. To me, it doesn’t matter which union
it is. I wish it was our union,” said House cook
Rickie Toon.
Toon, 60, works in the Rayburn House
Office Building and has been working in
Housecafeteriasformorethanthreedecades.
He helped organize the House union effort
shortlyaftertheHouseprivatizedfoodservic-
es in 1986.
Both Toon and Vaden make $17.25 an
hour. The wage is is nearly three times Toon’s
starting wage. He attributed the increase to
unionization,andsaidworkingwiththeunion
alsoearnedhimrespectamongmanagement.
Toon and Vaden work as union stewards,
serving as union representatives during
grievancemeetings.Theydescribedstanding
up for their fellow workers, and resolving
issues in meetings that include managers
involved and their supervisors.
On the Senate side of the Capitol, workers
with recent grievances have turned to Good
Jobs Nation, a coalition of labor groups that
has been organizing the recent contract
worker strikes. The group has filed a number
of unfair labor practice complaints against
Restaurant Associates, alleging retaliation
against workers who have spoken out or gone
on strike.
Powell, who works in the Senate, said
having a union would allow him and his
Senate workers to have an ally when voicing
complaints against management.
“[A union] would make a huge difference
because I feel I would actually have a voice
in what goes on,” Powell said. “They couldn’t
justpushusaroundanymorebecausewehave
somebody that’s going to stand up against
them.”
SanderstoAttend
CapitolWorkers’Strike
ContinuedfromPage3
ByBridgetBowman
WhenFrancisco“Frank”Fimbreswas10years
old, he began working in his family’s grocery
storechaininMexicocalled“CalidadMaxima,”
or “Maximum in Quality” in English. Two
decades later, he’s working to ensure food in
the House of Representatives embodies that
maximum quality.
Fimbres is the community relations officer
for Sodexo, the international food service
vendortakingoverHousecafeterias.Thenewly
createdpositionisuniquetotheHouse,andwill
givecongressionalstaffandlawmakersago-to
person for comments and complaints.
“My main job, for all intents and purpos-
es, will be to listen, to engage, to conduct
outreach,getfeedbackandtoserve,”Fimbres
saidinarecentinterview.“It’snotthatcompli-
cated.Wewanttomakesurethatwecontinue
theSodexotraditionofofferingqualityservic-
es,aqualitycustomerexperience,andalsobe
available and engaged, be present.”
Fimbres joked he is looking forward to
improving his personal health, since he’ll
constantlybemakingtheroundsattheCapitol
andthefourHouseofficebuildings.Heplansto
practice“culinarydiplomacy”whilenavigating
the variety of customers Sodexo has to serve,
including lawmakers, staffers and tourists.
“Johanna Mendelson Forman, she has a
wholeclassatAmericanUniversity,shestarted
at [Johns] Hopkins, about conflict cuisine, of
how food can unite folks who culturally may
be different,” Fimbres said, explaining his
philosophy toward food.
Fimbres said Mendelson Forman is his
friendandmentor,thoughhedidnottakeher
courseatAU.Hispursuitofhighereducationis
whatfirstbroughthimfromSanDiegotoD.C.,
and he has grown to love the District.
“Idon’tknowwhatthestatuteis,butintwo
more years I would have spent more time in
D.C. now than I would have in California,”
Fimbressaid.“SowillIbeaD.C.native?Idon’t
know. But it’s a great city. I love it.”
Though Fimbres may consider D.C.
his home now, with his wife Lorena, their
18-month-olddaughterLorenza,andasonon
theway,hisrootstracebacktotheWestCoast.
“I’m a border kid,” Fimbres said, noting he
wasborninSanDiegobutspentthefirstpartof
hislifeinTijuana,Mexico.Atage10,hewentto
work in Calidad Maxima, the chain of grocery
stores his great-grandparents, along with his
grandfather and his grandfather’s six brothers,
foundedin1939.
From ages 10 to 21, Fimbres spent time
after school, on the weekends and during the
summers in the grocery store. He worked as a
bag boy, a stock boy, in the butcher shop, and
later in customer service, personnel manage-
ment and marketing.
“You want to watch cartoons on Saturday
or you want to play with your friends. But [my
grandfather] wanted to instill the importance
ofworkandthedignitythatworkgivesbackto
individuals,andalsotomakeourowneconom-
icempowerment,”Fimbressaid.“Evenifitwas
a dollar, we made a dollar. We worked for it so
we knew the value of money.”
After graduating from AU in 2000 with a
degreeininternationalstudies,Fimbresworked
fortheNationalAssociationofHispanicPublica-
tions and then Diversity Best Practices, which
involvedsomeadvocacyworkonCapitolHill.He
worked often with the Congressional Hispanic
Caucusandlearnedtoworkwithcongressional
staff,askillhewillbereprisinginhisnewrole.
Fimbres went into public service in 2009
to work for then-D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. He
SodexoCommunityRelationsOfficerIsReady
ToPractice‘CulinaryDiplomacy’
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Fimbres’ previous government experience helped him stand out from other applicants for Sodexo’s new community relations officer.
— through our food and our quality of service.
Thosearethetwothingsthatcanneverchange:
The quality of service and the quality of food.
If we get those two things right, and Sodexo
has gotten it right at other places, then we’re
golden.”
remained in the D.C. government to work for
former Mayor Vincent C. Gray as the director
of community relations. He described his role
asa24hours-a-day,sevendays-a-week,on-call
position, where constituents had his personal
phone number and email address. Fimbres
plans to apply a similar method of service to
hisnewpositionatSodexo,listinghispersonal
phonenumberonhisbusinesscardandencour-
aging customers to text, call or email him.
“Building those relationships and being
accountable to folks for things, and being
transparent, has always worked for me in the
city government before, and I’m sure it will
work here,” Fimbres said.
DaveCerbin,theresidentdistrictmanager
for Sodexo at the House, said in an interview
that Fimbres’ government experience stood
out in the application process.
“It’s very much what Sodexo was looking
for: Somebody that would take responsibil-
ity and make sure that we’re communicating
properlytotheconstituents,andcouldgofrom
high level to low level to in between and have
the same respect of person and situation,”
Cerbin said.
Cerbin is overseeing the House transition
to Sodexo, which will involve new food, new
concepts and months of construction around
the House side of the Capitol complex.
Cerbin said the community relations officer
is a new position designed for the House,
following a survey the chief administrative
officer conducted of House food services,
which found that customers wanted a better
feedback mechanism.
AndFimbresiseagertogatherthatfeedback,
so staffers lunching in one of the cafeterias
shouldn’t be surprised if he approaches them
to ask what they think of the changes.
“We’re engaged. Our cashiers, our cooks,
we’re all engaged in that gastro-diploma-
cy,” Fimbres said. “We’re getting to people’s
minds and hearts — hearts and minds right?
Volume 61, Number 23
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