By Anne Baker

Chartwells, the company that services Northeastern’s dining halls, has recently had to answer questions across the country regarding their treatment of employees. But Northeastern’s Chartwells division has reportedly not faced such problems, said Michael Vigna, director of food services and vending operations. However, other schools, including Trinity College, Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) and Louisiana State University (LSU) have, according to their student newspapers.

Chartwells, which provides dining services for more than 200 colleges and universities in the United States alone, is a division of the UK-based Compass Group, one of the largest providers of food services across the world, according to its website.

Most recently, the Trinity Tripod, the student newspaper at Trinity College in Connecticut, wrote a series on an ongoing Chartwells labor dispute in which the company sought to cut 400 total working hours from employees in September 2007. After protests, the hours were cut to 60, a Tripod report stated.

Poor wages paid to Chartwells employees at LSU prompted students there to peacefully protest in November 2006, according to a report that appeared in the Daily Reveille, LSU’s student newspaper.

Chartwells workers at SCSU similarly protested in September 2005 after more than 100 employees filed complaints that were left unanswered, reported the Southern News.

Vigna said similar problems do not exist at Northeastern.

“Quite frankly, [the employees] are treated very well,” he said.

Vigna cited as an example a time “in the past few years” when union stewards approached Chartwells employees seeking to organize them. At the time, Vigna said, the employees voted against unionizing.

“To my knowledge, [Chartwells employees] are [happy], and they expressed that by not voting in a union when they had the opportunity,” he said.

A Chartwells manager at Stetson East dining hall, who asked that his name not be given, echoed Vigna’s statements. “I find the employees are happy,” he said. “It’s a good atmosphere. We don’t have any problems.”

The Stetson East manager said in the two years he’s worked there, employees have seemed content with the benefits they receive.

“Full time employees here have health care, dental care, everything else, the same as full time workers anywhere. It’s required in Massachusetts now,” he said. Despite the trouble Chartwells has faced in the past at other universities, Vigna is not so sure it is the determining factor in these disputes, he said. “Labor issues can pop up anywhere,” he said. “It’s really up to the university