Students sense FFC workers’ discontent

Although Bon Appétit Management Company has made efforts to improve its treatment of employees in the Fresh Food Café (FFC) in response to staff complaints that were published in the Feb. 20 issue of The News-Letter, students have recently noted public instances of employee anger and disgruntlement.

Bon Appétit is in its second year as the University’s dining provider after replacing Aramark in August of 2013. In February, FFC workers came forward with complaints of extreme displeasure at the new Hopkins dining management. Initial claims included sudden and unjust firings, underpayment for extended working hours, inefficient scheduling, few or no days off, lax compensation for Paid Time Off (PTO) or vacation days and rude attitudes from individual management staff toward the employees.

Consequently, The News-Letter has followed up on whether Bon Appétit management has implemented effective changes in response to the aggravated claims of FFC workers.

Bon Appétit Resident District Manager Vince McPhail wrote in an email to The News-Letter that an additional emphasis has been placed on fair treatment of workers to alleviate concerns.

“Last spring all management staff received additional human-resources training, covering all aspects of the employee lifecycle: recruiting, hiring, progressive discipline, coaching, and terminations,” McPhail wrote. “We also hold regular meetings with union leadership to discuss any concerns that may arise.”

Many of the employee complaints last year were directed at former Campus Executive Chef Robert Lavoie, also known as “Chef Bob.” Lavoie was accused of unprofessional behavior and frequently cursing at employees. Employees also expressed complaints against Norman Zwagil, Bon Appétit’s former resident district manager. Lavoie and Zwagil no longer work with Hopkins Dining Programs.

One FFC staff member, who interviewed with The News-Letter under the condition of her anonymity, said that conditions for employees have improved.

“The new people they’ve selected for management this year are a lot better,” she said. “They actually try to work together with the employees.”

“It’s gotten better because we don’t have the same management as we did when Bon Appétit first came,” Gladys Burrell, a Hopkins Dining Programs employee since 1971, said. “The managers, general managers and head chef are no longer here. Their presence is what made it a lot more difficult for workers. It has been a better working environment now that they’re gone.”

The anonymous FFC worker mentioned that although there has been some improvement, other issues still persist. She addressed the unequal treatment faced by FFC workers in comparison to those at other campus dining locations.

“[At the FFC] when you sign in, if you punch in five or six minutes late, you have to sign a sheet, and then you might not get all your money,” she said. “This does not happen at other [on-campus] dining locations; they seem to have more flexibility. [FFC] is the only place with the late punching.”

Students have also picked up on a difference in the way FFC workers are treated in comparison to workers at other Hopkins dining locations. Some students report that employee disgruntlement is reflected in the attitudes of FFC workers. They have also overheard the discontent in communication among FFC staff members.

“There are many incidences of unnecessary, rude behavior [from FFC workers], and it feels very unfair,” freshman Arisa Morgan said. “It just feels like they are taking something out on me... which seems to stem from more bitter resentment than the trivial matter of what I have done wrong.”

Other students have echoed similar sentiments of negative experiences at the FFC because they feel that the workers’ discontent is being projected onto the students.

“There have been instances where I was surprised by how rudely either myself or another student next to me was treated. It was just very uncalled-for rudeness,” sophomore Jenny Wagner said. “And there is definitely a difference between FFC workers and those at other locations. Although there have been instances of rudeness at other locations, it’s a lot more concentrated and worse overall at the FFC.”

“It really feels like [this treatment] is a result of something much bigger, like something in their personal lives, or how management treats them,” Morgan said. “But on our end, we really don’t deserve this kind of treatment.”

Some employees who have worked at both the FFC and at other on-campus dining locations have responded to these claims.

“[FFC] is definitely treated differently,” Burrell said. “FFC has the most workers and the most shifts. It takes more to deal with and manage more workers than a few workers.”

“They have to be treated differently because there are so many people, and you have so many different personalities, attitudes and so many different problems,” Burrell continued. “It’s not always [treatment] in a bad way, just different, because they have to manage more people.”

A second anonymous FFC employee, who also has worked at other Hopkins dining locations, disagreed.

“I don’t think treatment is significantly different,” he said, “You still work for Bon Appétit. For the punch-in times, my suggestion is, you need to obey the clock. If you follow the rules and do what you need to do, just do your job, there won’t be any problems like this. There really is no need to complain about that.”

Some upperclassmen said they have noticed more pleasant employee attitudes since last year and suggest a correlation between the improvements in the way in which FFC workers are treated and their attitude toward students.

“I actually heard people last year complaining while they were working about their shifts,” senior Justin Lee said. “You could tell that this was a problem because people would talk about how long their shifts were and how they weren’t getting breaks. I’ve never heard of that before, and I eat at [the] FFC a lot.”

“Because I’ve personally worked in a kitchen, I know how it feels,” Lee continued. “If you’re working for 12 hours standing up, and then you have five-minute breaks to eat food, you’re going to be grumpy. I really think that directly correlates with how they treat the students. And I haven’t heard that since [last year], so I guess it’s getting better.”

Burrell believes Bon Appétit’s recent improvements have come about with the time it took the company to become familiar with the structure of dining at Hopkins and said she is pleased with the changes overall.

“At first, [the management] didn’t really understand how our system worked,” Burrell said. “But now they understand our system, and people are getting paid on time, getting their PTO and things like that. Because they didn’t know, it took time for them to get the system in order and working. This year, it has gotten much better. There are still other issues, but everything takes time.”

The second anonymous employee reported a desire to see greater cooperation and cohesion among other staff members, the management and the University’s administration.

“I think everyone just needs to maintain a better attitude and come together as a team,” he said. “You need to try and help out every way you can, because you’re all working together, and it’s all in a day’s work.”

Burrell agreed that a heightened workplace morale will contribute to the management’s improvements. Such measures, according to Burrell, should involve compassion on the parts of both FFC workers and managers.

“The issue that still exists is sometimes management has to have a little more consideration for the people in general and their jobs,” Burrell said. “A lot of times people are doing the best they can, but sometimes [management] feels as though it’s not enough.”

“Because we’re all here to do the same thing — feed the students, get a paycheck and go home — everybody should have that little bit more of a consideration for others. If they have a little more consideration, people will listen and present themselves a little bit better, and everyone would just get along better.”