Intel cafeteria workers say bathroom visits restricted

SAN FRANCISCO – Contract workers who staff the cafeteria at chip-making giant Intel’s Santa Clara, Calif. headquarters allege they are restricted from going to the bathroom except on their meal periods or during one of their ten minute breaks.

The cafeteria staff do not work for Intel but for Eurest, a $1.4 billion Charlotte, North Carolina-based dining services company that runs employee dining centers nationwide.

Eurest's parent company is The Compass Group (CPG.L), a multinational contract food service and property management company based in England.

The workers filed a formal complaint with California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health last week, stating that the restroom policy is illegal under California law.

State regulations require that toilet facilities be accessible to employees "at all times." Federal law only requires that toilets must be provided but does not specify when employees must have access to them.

The complaints was filed by a contract worker at Intel’s cafeteria with help from UNITE HERE, a union that is working to organize contract employees in Silicon Valley such as shuttle drivers and cafeteria workers.

The cafeteria employees work eight hour shifts during which they get a 30 minute meal break and two ten minute rest breaks, said Jessica Choy with Local 19.

Intel takes such allegations seriously, said spokesman William Moss.

"Intel prides itself maintaining on safe and clean facilities.  Eurest has assured us that it is looking into the allegations and will keep us informed," Moss said.

Calls to Eurest for comment were not returned.

Intel expects all its suppliers to follow the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition Code of Conduct, said Moss.

That code states that "Workers are to be provided with ready access to clean toilet facilities."

Intel had previously come under fire for using poorly-paid contract workers in its food service while offering Intel staffers a wide range of perks include flexible stop and start times, free snacks and drinks and cafes featuring sustainably grown foods.

Eurest workers for Intel have also filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board stating they had been told to remove union buttons from their uniforms and were facing retaliation for their efforts to unionize.

According to the complaint filed on March 18, Eurest promised employees a $1 an hour raise to discourage unionizing efforts, then rescinded the promise because the efforts did not end.

In February cafeteria workers rallied outside Intel's headquarters in Santa Clara to highlight their median wage of $14.50 an hour with Guckenheimer Enterprises, the food service company that was at the time Intel's catering subcontractor. A full time worker would earn $30,000 a year at that rate, well under the $34,000 a year needed to rent a two bedroom apartment in the county.

UNITE HERE Local 19 began organizing workers for better working conditions and to form a union under Guckenheimer. However in March  Intel changed food service providers to Eurest, so the process had to be started over again, according to UNITED HERE.