On May 28, cafeteria workers at Brock & Company, Inc. in Farmington, Conn., joined UFCW Local 371 for a better life. The 20 workers make and serve food at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington.
These workers joined our union family because they were concerned about not having an employee break room, not having a voice to raise concerns, and being mistreated by management. UFCW Local 371 also represents cafeteria workers at Ethel Walker School, Sacred Heart University, and the Norwich public school system.
“I knew from my experiences with Local 371 at Ethel Walker School that it is always better at work when you have a union,” said Riyadh Al Aquel, who is a union committee member at Miss Porter’s School and a UFCW Local 371 member at Ethel Walker School. “Now we will have the opportunity to force the management to listen to us and improve our working conditions at Miss Porter’s School.”
“We are pleased to welcome our new union brothers and sisters at Miss Porter’s into our Local 371 union family,” said UFCW Local 371 President Ronald Petronella. “We have over 200 Local 371 members working in cafeterias across Connecticut, and in each of their contracts, we were able to improve their wages and benefits and give them a voice on the job for the first time. We know when our union family grows bigger, our union contracts grow stronger.”