Return to Index of Campus Dining News Articles Return to Campus Dining Homepage Source: The Wesleyan Argus Date: Friday, September 9, 2003 Byline: Megan Doughty Food Workers Dispute Changes When members of the Class of 2007 sat down to enjoy their orientation dinner last week, they were served with more than just a veggie burger and a warm welcome as Wesleyan dining service workers made their way through the crowd, distributing bright yellow fliers, protesting the cut in hours some are receiving this year due to changes in campus food service. The fliers, which read “Wesleyan and Aramark: Cutting Student Meal Service and Hurting Campus Dining Workers,” can now be found in sticker form on the t-shirts of many employees. According to the complaint, shortened hours at the Campus Center as well as other changes in meal service will have a detrimental effect on workers and students alike. The first floor of the Campus Center will now close at 8 p.m., leaving the third floor’s First Harvest Café and WeShop as the only late night dining options for the Fall semester. According to workers, the changes will overwhelm WeShop and deny students of hot food options such as pizza and made-to-order sandwiches. “Basically, we’re just workers who want to provide a service and make a living,” said long-time employee Raquel Adorno. “They can’t keep doing this to us as workers, and now they’re hurting students too.” The Administration, Director of Dining Services Tim Reiss and members of the WSA have a different view on the matter. While all three parties concede that dining services are in a state of flux, they also argue that the situation will improve over time. “There are a lot of changes taking place, but they’re all in the name of progress,” said WSA President Sohana Punithakumar ’04. Reiss agreed, saying that many of the workers’ concerns will be alleviated once the revamped Summerfields is opened in January. He added that the new facility will not only bring back many of the hours that workers have lost, but will also provide extensive, round-the-clock food service for students. Reiss said that the space will also pull traffic away from the over-burdened Campus Center, which he sees as a serious problem. As members of the Local 217 Hotel & Restaurant Employees Union, Wesleyan dining service workers have the right to displace less senior employees if their own job is threatened. Because Summerfields is under construction for the duration of the semester, some hours have been cut, creating a domino effect that has left those at the bottom of the chain without jobs. Adorno is upset by the changes to her schedule, but she said she was relatively fortunate in comparison to some of her coworkers. Fellow employee Nancy Daniels has lost her WeShop position altogether, and will most likely bump Mocon dishwasher in order to maintain her income. “It’s really a pain because it disrupts everybody’s lives,” Daniels said. “They’re throwing everybody off.” In addition to the hours cut, freshmen, who in past years had the choice between the 19-meal plan and other less-inclusive plans, are now given only 14 meals a week, and cannot use meal equivalencies at the Campus Center. Instead, they are given 275 points, 100 more than in previous years, to use at their discretion. By the end of this month, the Kosher Kitchen will close, and the second floor of the Campus Center will reopen as a kosher deli. According to the flier being distributed by workers, this move means that “students who keep kosher will lose a meal and non-kosher students lose a deli.” Reiss said there had to be a trade-off of services to accommodate the needs of the campus community. “We need to talk about how we can better utilize the Campus Center,” he said. “I’m trying to find ways to alleviate the amount of pressure on that building.” Reiss said concerns about overloading the facility were the reason for the replacement of the salad bar with ready-made options such as packaged salads and sushi. It also prompted the elimination of late night hours, which Reiss says saw little traffic in the first place. These hours were transferred to the First Harvest Café not to deprive workers of their hours or students of their options, but to maximize the efficiency of late-night dining. “We have to be fiscally responsible because we’re stewards of your money,” Reiss said. “We have to do what makes sense.” Another point of controversy is the addition of off-campus dining options. Giuseppe’s Pizza on Church St. will soon be accepting points, a decision which workers believe pulls revenue away from Aramark, and therefore pulls hours away from them. “I have nothing against Giuseppe’s, I love Giuseppe’s too,” Daniels said. “But it takes away from us.” According to dining services and the WSA, the off-campus dining option will not have a significant effect on workers. Punithakumar stressed that the Giuseppe’s program is experimental, and is in no way designed to replace campus dining services. “It was my understanding that making Giuseppe’s an option was a great thing,” Punithakumar said. “We’re just trying it out with one restaurant…Since it’s not a permanent program, we’re willing to give it a shot.” Both the Administration and the WSA, on one side, and the workers, on the other, said that they’re interested in respecting the wishes of the students. “Most of the decisions, if not all of them, have been student driven,” Reiss said. “Right now we’re just trying to iron out the pieces.” Adorno and Daniels, however, said that they don’t think students are not getting their money’s worth. “You need to give people options,” Adorno said. “These students have already paid for this, and the university is taking away options. That’s just not right.” The general opinion of the student body seems less definite than either side may realize, however. With little understanding of the bigger changes, students are more concerned with obvious differences like the loss of the Campus Center salad bar. Even students who depended on the Kosher Kitchen are relatively ambivalent about the changes and open to new possibilities. “I’m kind of disappointed that I have to go all the way to the Campus Center now,” said Steve Aubrey ’06, who lives in the Butterfields. “It’s unfortunate that this is closing, but I’m okay with it if the new kosher deli is okay.” The workers and the Administration agree that with a better understanding of the dining changes on campus, students can help resolve the conflict and make sure that their interests are protected. “It all boils down to the students,” Daniels said. This website copyright ©2003-2004 by the Wesleyan University Student Assembly Wesleyan University's student governing body. For questions regarding the website and its content, please email our webmaster.