Hi. My name is Krystal Johnson, and I'm a food service worker for Sodexo at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

The students at Emory are so important to me. I value my relationships with them and I work hard to do my job well. I was an elementary school teacher for 23 years. I love being able to put smiles on young people's faces.

Basically, I want respect at work. It is common for a supervisor to show a total lack of respect for me and my co-workers. We have been called incompetent in a meeting with a supervisor. We have been discouraged from using the bathroom when we need to. No one deserves to be treated this way.

I worry when my co-workers and I get written up when we take a sick day--even though we are entitled to take sick days. After you are written up four times, that is grounds for management to terminate you. With vacation days it is not much better. Sometimes one of us will give the required ten days notice to use a vacation day and still not be allowed to take the day.

Does the company train managers to treat us badly? I do what I do because it is a skill and I enjoy it, but as far as the work environment we shouldn't be treated like this--we are humans--just because my title may be chef and someone else is a manager we are still on a team and we should be treated equally.

With my skills I believe I can do more and learn more if they provided the training and opportunities. Unfortunately, from my experience people who offer opinions or ideas to make things better are limited in their opportunities at Sodexo. You won't get very far if you speak up. That's not a good way to run a business.

I want a union because we need a voice in the workplace. We should not have to worry when we want to voice our opinion at work. I know if we work together we can win a contract that will make a big difference in my life and in the lives of my co-workers.