Union workers are burden to Duke dining

Duke Dining has a problem, and it is not the $2 million deficit. 

Instead of coercing students to spend their food points at non-contracted establishments, why doesn’t the University identify why these particular venues have become so unattractive. It is my belief that many in the administration have done so, but either those voices are suppressed or they are too afraid to publicize their findings. 

What do all of the non-contracted venues, the Marketplace, the Great Hall, Subway, Chik-fil-A and Trinity Café, have in common? Two words: Local 77. Unionized workers staff only and all of these eateries. This can only mean that the Dining deficit is a product of the union’s absurdly bloated contracts, including designed impediments to any disciplinary action and bizarre provisions allowing workers to skip work at will. Despite unnecessarily increasing the Dining deficit, these contracts make it nearly impossible for the Bon Appetit Management Company to police their employees. Not surprisingly, the administration forces Bon Appetit to hire these unionized workers just as they are planning to force us to eat at their workplaces.

Bon Appetit is a great management company. Its staff works tirelessly to respond to student needs and improve the dining experience, however, union workers drastically burden the service of their venues. I don’t have to tell you how bad that service really is. It seems that every Duke students has a dining “horror story” from one of these establishments. In fact, I often have my politically astute friends guess which campus eateries are run by union employees. Rarely do the Marketplace, the Great Hall and Subway go unmentioned. 

Interestingly, as sales data confirm, these also rank high on the “least favorite” and “worst service” lists. It is not fair to the management company to dictate who they can hire and on what terms they can “manage” them. Nor is it fair to require students to spend their money on food and service that they so clearly do not want. Let the management company manage however they wish, and let the students eat wherever they wish!

Jake Bullock

Trinity ’11