University comments about dining services staff alarm WROC

In a letter to President Tilghman last week, student activists formally expressed their support for outraged dining hall workers, who have challenged the University's commitment to job security.

The controversy originated over a statement printed Oct. 15 in the industry journal "Production Today," which outlined the proceedings of the National Association of College and University Food Services conference this summer in Orlando.

Director of Dining Services Stu Orefice was quoted as saying, "As you renovate each building, that's where you save FTEs [full-time employees]. And we're trying to eliminate as many cooks and heavy construction people to go with the generic f/s [food-services] workers and I think that mfrs. [manufacturers] have helped us along those lines."

The University's dining hall employees and the Workers' Rights Organizing Committee say they are alarmed by the statement's tone. They say they fear it is indicative of an administration that regards its employees as expendable.

"What sort of culture is abroad in Princeton human resources where it is acceptable for the director of dining services to boast in public about 'eliminating' its longtime workers?" Barry McCrea GS wrote in the letter on behalf of WROC.

The administration and Orefice insist that the line was taken "wildly" out of context and is not representative of University policy.

Senior Vice President for Administration Charles Kalmbach '68, who presents the University's official stance on the subject, argues that Orefice's quotes from the conference is a four-line excerpt that mischaracterizes a long conversation.

The University has not yet issued an official response that provides the context of the statement. In an email reply, Orefice wrote, "This quote was taken from a variety of thoughts made at a roundtable discussion. This does not represent the model we developed for [Frist Campus Center]."

Kalmbach said the statement applied strictly to the Frist and concerned only creating and not disposing of jobs, as the isolated remark may suggest.

Though he could not account for specific individuals, he said the number of cooks on campus has increased over the last few years.

The shift to "generic food-service workers" — officially termed "retail food-service worker" — refers to "the different mix of skills" necessary for the dining area at Frist, which requires more personnel to man the various stations.

Two programs have been instituted to train and educate employees who, Kalmbach emphasized, must qualify for those positions. Though the percentage of cooks among food-service employees decreased in the transition from Cannon Green to Frist, dining services increased the number of cooks from 12 to 70.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

WROC members, however, say they cannot completely dismiss a statement they regard as extreme and undermining of job security. Even by the most generous understanding, the word "generic" in reference to an employee is callous and disrespectful, McCrea said.

"What worker could read this and consider himself a valued member of the community?" he said.

Members of WROC, which has rallied for higher wages and better working conditions in the past, say this statement is further indication that the University plans to "squeeze maximum profit out of its student dining halls, by downsizing to a minimum and replacing a team of flexible and skilled employees with a skeleton staff of 'generic f/s worker' drones," according to the letter.

The group argues that such a system is potentially hazardous to both students and employees. This measure could compromise both dining services' stated aim "to provide wholesome, nutritious meals in pleasant dining rooms with an emphasis on customer service" and the employee morale, McCrea wrote in the letter.

Kalmbach said that food in such a setup is not cheapened — only varied — and that employee-student contact is reinforced with more people behind the counter.