News & Public Affairs

Immokalee workers reach deal with Aramark listen

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Tags: Coalition of Immokalee Workers, farmworkers, Aramark, Publix

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has reached an agreement with another food giant to increase wages for tomato pickers. The food service company Aramark will pay an extra penny and a half per pound for tomatoes picked in Florida, and most of that premium will be distributed to the workers. We spoke with Marc Rodrigues with the Student Farmworker Alliance which advocates for the Immokalee workers.

*The c...

Ex-corrections chief blasted prison food service

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Tags: Florida, prisons, Aramark

Last week, WMNF reported on a rally held in Miami by labor and community leaders calling for an investigation of Aramark’s food service contract with Florida’s Department of Corrections.

The activists referenced an audit by a Florida Inspector General which found that Aramark was collecting “windfall profits” from its contract with the state, and that by doing the work for itself, the state could save approximately $7-million a year.

But instead of firing the company, the state gave A...

Activists protest against private contractor listen

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Tags: Aramark, prisons, Florida, UNITE HERE

A little over a year ago, a Florida Inspector General blasted the Aramark Corp., saying the company had made millions in "windfall profits" from savings instead of passing them along to the state's prison system.

The Philadelphia-based company was contracted by the state back in 2001 to provide food service at most of its prisons in order to save the state money.

The report said that because feed rates had dropped, the company was pocketing an additional $4.9 million per year that shoul...