Ithaca College

Ithaca College has announced that its campus dining services provider, Sodexo, will increase wages for hourly employees with the start of the 2011–12 school year, so that all workers will receive at least the locally calculated “living wage.”

Sodexo will pay both full- and part-time employees at the college a minimum of $11.11 per hour beginning on September 1. The Ithaca-based Alternatives Federal Credit Union calculates that figure as the living wage for this region.

“We are proud to partner with Sodexo, which for the past 11 years has provided outstanding service to the campus community and has now stepped up to the plate to meet our request to provide a living wage to its employees at the college,” said Ithaca College president Tom Rochon. “Together, we have responded to the questions and concerns raised by members of the campus and local communities with a genuine expression of our commitment to our shared values.”

The new standard will apply to all of the approximately 40 Sodexo employees on the Ithaca College campus currently earning less than the living wage. In addition, some 70 other hourly employees who already earn above that amount will see an increase in their wages in order to address salary compression.

“Sodexo values our dedicated team of hard-working men and women at Ithaca College, and we are pleased to be able to increase wages for our hourly employees to meet the community’s standards,” said Jeff Scott, general manager for Sodexo dining services at Ithaca College. “This both creates new opportunities for our employees and reaffirms our commitment to the people that have made Sodexo a valued partner with the Ithaca College community since 2000.”