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<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; Mary Artsma wanted to know why 26 Dallas School District cafeteria workers lost their health, life insurance, retirement and paid days off benefits.</p><p>&#8220;We would like to know why,&#8221; the 15-year district cafeteria worker said Monday. &#8220;We deserve an answer.&#8221;</p><p>Artsma&#8217;s concerns are related to the Dallas School District&#8217;s decision to replace an expired contract with nutrition vendor Metz Culinary Management Inc. of Dallas with Southwest Foodservice Excellence, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the 2017-18 school year.</p><p>&#8220;Why wasn&#8217;t our contract rolled over with this new company?&#8221; Artsma asked.</p><p>The food service employees are not Dallas School District employees, district Business Manager Grant Palfey said. Metz Culinary Management held the contract, he added.</p><p>Palfey said the district did advertise and receive three bids &#8212; from Southwest Foodservice Excellence, Metz Culinary Management Inc. and Nutrition Inc. Each proposal varied by about $11,000 a month, he said.</p><p>The district&#8217;s Cafeteria and Wellness committee recommended SFE to the board. SFE&#8217;s bid was accepted on an interim basis of 90 days, expiring on Nov. 30.</p><p>&#8220;I have no problem with the new food service company &#8212; they are wonderful &#8212; but what I have a problem with is for the past 35 years the food service company that won the bid has always honored our contract,&#8221; Artsma said, asking if the contract was included in the bid request.</p><p>Palfey assured Artsma that the &#8220;current labor rates&#8221; were included with the request for proposals, but it was up to the new vendor to accept or renegotiate the food service contract with employees.</p><p>Artsma said current food service workers lost all their benefits and had to reapply for their jobs.</p><p>&#8220;These are people who have been here 35, 40 years,&#8221; Artsma said. &#8220;Myself 15.&#8221;</p><p>Monty Staggs, co-president of SFE, and addressed the audience, Artsma and her colleagues at the meeting.</p><p>&#8220;We will negotiate in good faith,&#8221; Staggs said.</p><p>After the meeting, Dan Matello, co-president of SFE, said he is willing to renegotiate the contract with the food service employees, but did not want to &#8220;inherit a contract set up by the preceding company.&#8221;</p><p>Matello said SFE and the food service employees do not have a negotiation meeting scheduled yet.</p><p>&#8220;They are a great bunch of ladies,&#8221; Matello said.</p><p>In other news, the Dallas School Board will hold an Act 34 meeting to discuss plans to replace Dallas Elementary with an intermediate school to house third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18 at the Dallas High School in Dallas Township.</p><p>The next school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 in the school administration building, 2000 Conyngham Ave., Dallas Township.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mary Artsma, a 15-year food service worker in the Dallas School District, grills the school board regarding why the food service department workers lost benefits. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_Dallas-SB-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mary Artsma, a 15-year food service worker in the Dallas School District, grills the school board regarding why the food service department workers lost benefits. </caption0><photoCredit0>Eileen Godin | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Dallas school cafeteria workers seek answers from board about lost benefits