Ousting Sodexo was only the Beginning

Emory University recently decided not to renew its contract with Sodexo as its primary food service vendor, opting instead to go with Bon Appétit Management Company. This decision came amidst increasing discussion on campus regarding allegations made against Sodexo regarding the company’s supposed treatment of its employees, amongst other things. If everything is to be believed, Sodexo has indeed a lot to answer for: human rights violations, threatening its workers if they should ever unionize, denying them access to health care, the list goes on and on. Emory itself had previously admitted, in a recent labor report, to not being able to determine its employees’ experience with the food service vendor. Also it is interesting that Sodexo is involved in private prison companies — a fa​ct that has been on prominent display throughout campus this past week. While, yes, Sodexo eventually ended its investment on American soil, it continues its involvement with the private prison industry in Europe. All of this is to say, Sodexo had a shaky track record at best; at the very worst, Emory was willfully contracting a company with disturbing policies on employment and work.

One can imagine, then, the positive response that came forth with the announcement that Emory University has ended its relationship with Sodexo. As a University that has always purported to serve humanity, severing ties with Sodexo was the long-awaited move in the right direction. Also, the University claims that all current Emory food service employees will continue to keep their jobs. In all respects, this was a victory, a step away from its previous hypocrisy and toward a more open and honest platform of operation. So why do I still feel like something is still not right?

Don’t get me wrong. While only time can tell whether or not Bon Appétit will repeat Sodexo’s mistakes, getting rid of Sodexo was the right thing to do. However, I cannot help but wonder how much Emory University, be it the student body or the administration, really cares about the safety of the workers who are employed with companies Emory is involved with.

Take Emory’s partnership with Apple, for instance. As one of the three computer contract suppliers for the University, its products are also arguably the most prevalent on the Atlanta undergraduate campus. The vast majority of desktop computers provided by Emory are manufactured by Apple, while in the Tech Store, located in Barnes & Nobles, Apple products are on prominent display. The benefits of having access to their equipment on campus is undeniable, as I am sure most students, myself included, will attest.

Yet, just a few short months ago a BBC undercover investigation exposed several violations in a factory that produced Apple products, such as the iPod. Employees there were subjected to mandatory 12-hour shifts and worked over 60 hours a week. The investigation also discovered that raw material from illegal mines in Indonesia, mines that employed children to work in hazardous conditions, may have been used to assemble Apple products. This investigation came just a few years after reports in 2010 that employees in another factory complex were attempting suicide over labor abuses. In fact, the number of suicide attempts had gotten so bad that the entire complex had set up suicide prevention nets surrounding their buildings to catch employees falling to their deaths. Against an international call to answer for these violations, Apple continues to deny these charges and furthermore maintains its relationships with all of the previously mentioned manufacturers.

I am a senior, and in my time at Emory I have yet to see a single protest, demonstration or flyer that spoke out against Emory’s continued relationship with Apple.

Admittedly, I have only been here a short three years and could have quite possibly missed a rally or call to arms. But as I am sure that many other students will agree, there has been little to no discussion in regards to the University’s partnership with Apple, especially in comparison with the recent dialogue on Sodexo. Why is that? Both companies have come under attack for the well-documented mistreatment of employees. In fact, Apple’s employment of factories carrying numerous allegations of human rights violations has had arguably larger coverage in recent media than Sodexo ever had. And yet, Apple still remains on campus while Sodexo is leaving next semester. Under such convenient timing too, as its decade long contract was just expiring at the end of this term. One can only guess whether Emory University would have even considered severing ties with Sodexo if the contract had continued onto the next ten years. Really, what sort of victory is that? Yes, by all means, it is definitely a victory for both the students who fought for the decision and the employees who will hopefully benefit from this change, but should we really be congratulating the administration for switching food service vendors when it was finally convenient for them to do so?

To return on the original point — we as students should not be blind to the injustices occurring across the world, especially if our purchases encourage these injustices to continue to happen. Yes, it is much easier to get behind a cause when we can put a face to it, and in the case of Sodexo the faces of the food service employees we have all met and interacted with surely played a part in motivating students to fight against Sodexo. But please, do not ignore those who we cannot immediately see.

If you claim to truly care about the fate of employees, then perhaps it is time to take notice of Apple’s injustices against its workers. Let us look past the faces we can see to the ones we cannot, because if we choose to be inactive in light of such violations, then we too become hypocrites.