Dining Union Negotiations

Pomona College strives to be an employer of choice through its investments in the people who make our mission possible. By prioritizing competitive compensation, exceptional benefits, opportunities for professional growth and development and a strong commitment to employee wellbeing, the College seeks to create a workplace where employees can flourish and build meaningful and rewarding careers.

Importantly, Pomona College's commitment to employees extends beyond compensation. The College provides an environment where employees can support their families, care for their health and wellbeing, continue learning, plan confidently for the future and retire when ready with dignity.

Pomona's commitments to all its employees include:

• Competitive and often industry-leading compensation and benefits, including a current $26.50 minimum wage for full-time, benefits-eligible employees and a comprehensive and affordable package of health, retirement and leave benefits
• Investments in employee wellbeing, including highly subsidized medical coverage, free on-campus healthcare, mental health resources, wellness programs, financial literacy and wellbeing trainings, and access to campus fitness facilities
• Professional growth, onsite training and lifelong learning, with many programs offered in both English and Spanish through professional development opportunities; plus free LinkedIn Learning access
• Tuition assistance programs that support employees and their families, including subsidies to attend not only Pomona but any university
• Work-life balance and family support, including generous vacation and leave programs, paid winter closure, reduced summer hours with no reduction in pay, childcare resources and other family-supportive benefits
• Long-term financial security, including significant employer retirement contributions and benefits that help employees prepare for the future and retire when ready with a degree of financial stability

Pomona College's philosophy begins with its mission: to educate students of exceptional promise, regardless of financial circumstances, through a distinctive residential liberal arts experience. To support this mission, Pomona stewards its resources so that future generations can benefit from these same opportunities.

Dining Service Employees help create the distinctive residential experience that defines a Pomona education. Investments in dining employee compensation are therefore an important part of the College's broader commitments through its annual budget. Other commitments include:

• Access and affordability through one of the nation's most formidable financial aid programs
• The academic, residential and student-support programs that define a Pomona education
• Competitive salaries and benefits that help attract, retain and support exceptional faculty and staff
• Strategic investments that strengthen the College and advance its mission over time

The wages of Pomona dining service employees now average approximately $28.21 per hour. Pomona College maintains a $26.50 minimum wage for full-time, benefits-eligible employees, which include Dining Service Employees.

Since 2019, most long-serving Dining Service Employees have received wage increases of at least $11 per hour or more, representing gains of over 60%.

Pomona's dining wages are among the highest in Southern California. Here, Dining Service Employees earn considerably higher wages than advertised rates at comparable L.A.-area institutions.

Salary increases have consistently and significantly outpaced inflation (as measured by the standard Consumer Price Index, or CPI). Over the period of our most recent contract, wages grew approximately 35% compared to the CPI, which increased 12.7% over the same period. This means that over the past four years, dining wages have grown 2.83 times (183%) faster than inflation.

Yes, all of our regular Dining Service Employees are benefits-eligible. The only exceptions are for occasional temporary workers who are brought in when additional short-term support is needed.

Virtually all regular Dining Service Employees meet eligibility requirements for Pomona's comprehensive benefits package, which includes:

• Comprehensive Health and Wellness Benefits: Affordable, very high-quality medical, dental, vision and other benefits that feature low deductibles and co-pay contributions
• Mental Health and Wellbeing Resources: The confidential Employee Assistance Program, which provides free counseling, financial coaching, legal assistance and childcare and eldercare resources
• Retirement Benefits and Long-Term Financial Security: Significant retirement benefits and long-term financial-planning opportunities
• Paid Time Off and Leave Programs: Paid holidays, paid sick leave, generous vacation and leave programs, paid winter closure, and reduced summer hours with no reduction in pay
• Paid Legal Services: The College provides access for dining employees to legal services for immigration assistance and a range of other issues
• Tuition and Educational Opportunities: Tuition assistance and higher-education benefits for employees and their families—at Pomona College or any other institution they choose to attend
• Wellness Programs: Access to campus fitness facilities, on-campus healthcare and financial literacy and wellbeing trainings
• Professional Development: On-site training, lifelong learning programs offered in both English and Spanish, and LinkedIn Learning access

When the wages, benefits, paid leave and retirement programs of Pomona Dining Service Employees are considered together, Pomona offers a total compensation package for Dining Service Employees that far exceeds what is available to the overwhelming majority of workers across the broader food service and hospitality industries.

In addition, Pomona College offers job stability, predictability and continuity that set it apart from many food service and hospitality employers, where occasional or even frequent layoffs are common.

Pomona Dining Services Employees also receive meaningful retirement benefits and long-term financial planning support, along with tuition assistance that can open life-changing educational opportunities for employees’ children.

During collective bargaining, representatives of the College and the Union meet to discuss wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. Both parties exchange proposals and work through areas of agreement and disagreement in an effort to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

Pomona College will be represented by members of its leadership team, supported by experienced labor counsel. Dining Service Employees are represented by Unite Here Local 11.

The College’s most recent contract with Dining Service Employees, signed in 2022, expired on June 30, 2026. In the months prior to the expiration of this contract, Pomona College repeatedly reached out to Union leadership, starting in April, to try to begin negotiations. The Union responded after many months, and we are now pleased that these conversations will begin on September 8.

All wages and benefits remain in effect under the terms of the expired Union Contract and will continue until Pomona and the Union agree to a new Contract.

Collective bargaining is governed under federal law—the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which has been in effect for more than 90 years and is designed to foster labor stability and fairness. The NLRA is overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Pomona College's Dining Service Employees are essential members of our campus community and play a vital role in the distinctive residential experience that defines a Pomona education. We are confident that good faith negotiations will produce an agreement that is beneficial to both the College and our Dining Service Employees.

While we had hoped to have started negotiations no later than early May, we are committed to working to reach an agreement and are confident that continued dialogue with the Union and its Employee Committee will help us find common ground. Since we have not had our first meetings, it is too soon to predict how long the process will take. Regardless, we are committed to bargaining in good faith—our Dining Service Employees are valued members of the Pomona community, and our goal is a mutually beneficial agreement that supports both our employees and the College's mission.

We plan to negotiate in good faith and are optimistic that we can achieve a mutually beneficial agreement without any labor disruptions.

Dining Service Employees are essential members of our campus community. We are confident that, through good-faith negotiations, we will find the common ground needed to come to an agreement.