TORONTO - Cafeteria and janitorial staff at Seneca College's Markham campus have gone on strike to back demands for higher wages in a first contract.
Their union, Unite Here, says many of the workers make just above minimum wage and work two jobs to make ends meet.
Unite Here spokesman Alex Dagg says the workers want wages and benefits in line with colleagues at Seneca's other Toronto-area campuses.
The workers are employed by Philadelphia-based Aramark, which employs 15,000 people in Canada.
It provides meals at high schools, university and colleges as well as in factories and law firms, plus laundry and cleaning services.
Unite Here began in July 2004 in a merger between the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union.
