PRESS RELEASE
Date: September 17, 2012
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jewel Bush, Communications Coordinator
(504) 322-4243, office; (225) 454-3853; cell
jewel.bush@seiu21la.org
www.seiu21la.org
Aramark’s Behavior During Hurricane Isaac Just as Bad as Looting
A Call to Action: Tuesday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m., Aramark Office, 3800 Desire Parkway
(New Orleans – September 17, 2012) On August 29, Hurricane Isaac swept through New Orleans and surrounding areas with raging winds and torrential rains causing widespread flooding and epic power outages that lasted in some cases as long as a week. Businesses and schools were closed for up to one week. Whether people evacuated or chose to ride out the weather at home, most people experienced a financial loss due to being out of work since August 28.
Everyone lost — except Aramark and its Wallstreet owners. In fact, this Fortune 500 company, which receives taxpayer money to clean and provide food services in the Recovery School District (RSD), made money. Aramark was paid even though schools were closed. Instead of paying workers for their scheduled shifts that were canceled due to forces beyond their control, the company pocketed tens of thousands of dollars, while their workers, who already toe the poverty line, were put into precarious situations because of the loss of income.
Aramark and its private equity investors from Wallstreet made a week’s worth of profits off of the pain and suffering of New Orleans and the New Orleans people.
“When a person loots or steals a loaf of bread after a hurricane, he goes to jail. What Aramark did was just as bad, but nothing happened to them. That’s why we are demanding Aramark pay employees instead of pocketing the taxpayer money they earned as a result of Hurricane Isaac,” said Helene O’Brien, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 21 LA.
Aramark workers as well as concerned New Orleanians will deliver a letter of demands to the Aramark office (3800 Desire Parkway, New Orleans, 70126) at 10 a.m., Tuesday, September 18.
For more information or to interview Aramark workers and concerned New Orleanians, contact Jewel Bush, SEIU Local 21 LA, by phone at (225) 454-3853 or via email at jewel.bush@seiu21la.org.
21 LA President Helene O'Brien speaks at a press conference in May 2012 about wrongfully fired Aramark workers in the RSD.
