Angelica strikes deal with union

After years of debate and negotiation, Angelica Corp.—the laundry service used by Duke University Health System—reached an agreement with workers’ union UNITE HERE.

Workers at non-unionized Angelica plants, including the Durham plant, can now decide by vote whether and how to unionize without facing pressures from company management.

The agreement requires non-unionized plants to use a public “card check,” rather than secret ballot, method when deciding if they want to unionize under UNITE HERE, which represents workers at 23 of Angelica’s 35 plants. Angelica employees previously told The Chronicle that they experienced unfair conditions and harassment from anti-union workers and management.

The University and DUHS, per policy, do not directly force companies to allow workers to unionize. In the past, however, Duke has indicated that it wants Angelica to improve the working conditions at the Durham plant.

Over the past year, students in Duke’s chapter of Students Against Sweatshops have supported UNITE HERE and staged several demonstrations on campus.