Area schools work through food delivery delays after US Foods drivers go on strike

Schools across Tippecanoe County were left waiting to see if their scheduled US Foods delivery trucks would appear on Wednesday after drivers from the company's Chicago union, Teamsters Local 705, went on strike early Monday morning.

According to a social media post from Teamsters' official X page, the strike in Chicago follows the expiration of the union's contract with US Foods on Dec. 29.

"Our warning to US Foods was clear — meet our demands at the negotiating table or face a strike," Juan Campos, Local 705 secretary-treasurer and international vice president at-large, said in the post. "Now, the company must bear the consequences of their inaction. Our members will remain on the streets until US Foods gets serious in negotiations."

A US Foods spokesperson told the Journal and Courier the company is currently in contract negotiations with the local union representing the Bensenville, Illinois, facility.

"Despite our best efforts, an agreement has not been reached and the union has initiated a strike at our Bensenville, Illinois, facility," the company stated. "We are disappointed the union has decided to take these actions given the highly competitive offerings our drivers currently receive," the US Foods spokesperson said in an email. "In fact, our drivers in Bensenville currently receive wages and benefits that are market-leading for food-service distribution in Chicagoland, and our current proposal includes increases to both wages and benefits.

"We remain open to productive negotiations to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that recognizes the contributions of our hard-working associates, and out of respect for the law and the negotiations process, we will continue to focus our efforts at the bargaining table, because that’s where solutions are found."

Courtney FitzSimons, director of food services for the West Lafayette schools, said she is still waiting on her pre-scheduled Monday delivery. While her orders are delivered from the Indianapolis US Foods distribution center, FitzSimons said she was told by her designated company representative that some of their drivers were choosing to not cross the picket line out of respect for the Chicago workers, leaving the Indianapolis staff short handed.

"Monday's delivery was suppose to come on Tuesday, but it didn't. I just heard from our representative for US Foods this morning, and they thing they'll be able to get them out by the end of this week," FitzSimons said. "It's kind of on a wait-and-see basis now."

In order to help West Lafayette schools avoid shortages due to delayed deliveries, FitzSimons said she places orders a week in advance. If her delivery hasn't come Thursday, she said she'll need to utilize her back-up option to keep lunch trays full.

"Worst case scenario is we try to find another main line distributor, and there is one in particular who reached out to let us know they would be able to help us in the meantime," FitzSimons said. "If Thursday comes, and there's still no truck, we'll be reaching out to them to get an order."

Lori Shofroth Cords, director of nutrition services for the Tippecanoe schools, said as of Wednesday morning she'd heard word from a handful of schools within the district that they'd received trucks from US Foods, but the others were still waiting.

"Hearing that is a big relief," Cords said. "It doesn't mean that the strike is off, though. US Foods has brought in temporary drivers to help along with pulling some drivers from their Cincinnati distribution center, seating them with their sales force representatives to ensure the orders are going to where they need to be."

A letter alerting parents of the delivery issues was sent to parents this week, Cords said, knowing all schools were set with stock through the end of Friday. If the rest of Tippecanoe schools are left without deliveries, Cords said a back up plan will be discussed at Wednesday's managers meeting, where food supervisors will need to venture out to other vendors in order to create sack lunches for students.

"I hope parents are understanding that this is beyond anyone's control," she said. "For us, this is actually worse than how things were during COVID times, because then we were at least getting some items. But right now with no trucks, we're getting no items at all."

Despite the stress of the situation, FitzSimons said moments like this leave her feeling thankful for her fellow school food service workers.

"I've been working with both Frankfort's school corporation and TSC to talk game plans since we are all in the same cooperative," she said. "That's what I love so much about this group of food service directors. We lean on one another and help each other as much as we can."

Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached by email at jellison@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ellison_writes.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: US Foods strike leaves Greater Lafayette schools waiting on deliveries