Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and the union representing its food service workers will head back to the bargaining table next week, reports ABC 6 News.
Mayo and the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota are slated to hold two additional negotiation sessions over food service worker outsourcing plans, according to the report. The sessions are scheduled for Sept. 28 and Sept. 29.
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota is fighting Mayo's plan to switch from Sodexo to Morrison Healthcare for food and nutrition services at 20 campuses across the country. An estimated 700 Mayo food service workers in southern Minnesota would become Morrison employees if the switch took place, according to a Post-Bulletin report. Sodexo food service workers who work at Mayo facilities but are not Mayo employees would also become Morrison employees.
Mayo has contended local employees will be offered jobs for the same pay, and that the change "will allow us to deliver consistent and enhanced food and nutrition options to our patients, visitors and staff."
But the union, in an effort to debunk Mayo's claim that the outsourcing will result in better food service, now seeks an 18-month reprieve to prove "we can beat any patient satisfaction score at another location" with proper training, according to the Post-Bulletin report.
The union has held at least two rallies to protest Mayo's plan.