Lunchroom Workers to Board of Education: We Want to Feed Chicago’s Children AND Our Own
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
CONTACT
Sarah Lyons, [email protected], 312-385-0603
Lunchroom Workers to Board of Education: We Want to Feed Chicago’s Children AND Our Own
Report shows CPS lunchroom workers struggle to afford food and other basic necessities
CHICAGO – Today, Chicago Public School lunchroom workers marched to the Board of Education to deliver a new report and call for better wages, fully-staffed kitchens, respect, and dignity.
67% of surveyed CPS lunchroom workers reported having trouble paying for food in the past 3 months and 22% reported that their families have visited food banks, according to a report released this week by UNITE HERE Local 1. Of CPS lunchroom workers surveyed, nearly half (49%) reported ‘often’ or ‘always’ struggling to afford basic necessities like food, housing, and healthcare costs.
“I’m proud to serve Chicago students. They’re our future. But it’s heartbreaking that while I’m feeding everyone else’s children, I have to visit a food bank to feed my own,” said Ivery Pierre, who has worked as a cook for CPS for 7 years and is currently at Marquette Elementary School in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.
“I love being part of our school community and making sure our students are nourished. Even with fewer staff, my coworkers and I work hard every day to keep smiles on the kids’ faces. We just want to be paid fairly for the work we do,” said Irma Garcia, who has worked as cook at James Russell Lowell School in Humboldt Park for over two decades.
As of June 2025, 72% of CPS lunchroom workers made $18.42 or less per hour. Since 2019, staffing levels have dropped by 16.8%, from 2,170 to 1,805 workers. 90.7% of CPS lunch workers are people of color and 61.7% live on the West and South Sides of Chicago.
“CPS lunchroom workers put their heart and soul into cooking and caring for Chicago’s children. We know Chicago loves their lunchroom workers, but these workers can’t serve from an empty cup. It’s time we compensate them appropriately so they can continue to do the work they love,” said Karen Kent, President of UNITE HERE Local 1.
Chicago Public School lunchroom workers, which include lunchroom attendants, cooks, associate lunchroom managers and porters, prepare and serve about 270,000 meals every day for Chicago Public School children. The union contract between the Chicago Board of Education and UNITE HERE Local 1 expired on June 30, 2025.
The report is available at www.unitehere.1org/CPSLunchroomReport