Chilly temperatures greeted Jamie Havisto and other SEIU members as they conducted informational picketing outside the Minneapolis Education Services Center. The cold weather was nothing compared to the wage freeze they've undergone for more than four years, they said.

About 200 members of Service Employees International Union Local 284 are employed by the Minneapolis School District to provide child nutrition services. Many work in the center where meals are prepared for the entire district, while others like Havisto are based at individual schools.

On Thursday, contract talks between Local 284 and the district resume with the help of a state mediator.

SEIU members conducted informational picketing outside the Minneapolis Education Services Center Tuesday.

The child nutrition staff has been working under an expired contract since July 1. The union says the current school district proposal would maintain a two-tiered wage system that ultimately will mean lower wages for the largely female workforce. In addition, the existing wage schedules have been frozen for more than four years, the union said.

Havisto, who is the sole child nutrition worker at Windom Elementary, has been employed by the Minneapolis schools for 12 years. She loves the work, she said, but the combination of a low wage offer and higher health care premiums are making her re-evaluate her job. She would like a contract that rewards her skill and experience.

"We have a more personal relationship with the students," she said. "We also have to be certified in childhood nutrition, food handling and sanitation."

Jamie Havisto said child nutrition workers just can't make a living under the terms proposed by the school district.

As Local 284 members picketed Tuesday outside the Minneapois Education Services Center, motorists honked their car horns in support. The union members also handed out fliers asking people to phone members of the Minneapolis School Board to urge a fair resolution of the contract.

The board members are: Chair Joseph Erickson, 612-668-0632; Judy Farmer, 612-379-7429; Peggy Flanagan, 612-668-0634; Sharon Henry-Blythe, 612-668-0637; Audrey Johnson, 612-668-0635; Lydia Lee, 612-668-0633; and Colleen Moriarty, 612-668-0636.