Negotiating Place and Power through Union Grievance in Post‐War New York City Cafeterias

Abstract

AbstractNew York City School cafeterias in the American post‐war period are prisms through which we can understand struggles to assert new relations of power – in terms of gender, race and class. This article examines the documented grievances of rank‐and‐file cafeteria aides in New York City's Local 372 union and the importance of institutional carework as part of a longer legacy that informs our current moment. Letters of complaint sent by workers illustrate assertion of their rights as workers while they negotiated for control of their bodies, and identities within the realm of the cafeteria and a larger male‐dominated union framework.