Transferred Bon Appetit employees take shifts from student workers

By Mackenzie Herring

Student workers at Maggie’s, the Bon Appetit-run coffee shop on Lewis & Clark’s campus, have had major changes to their schedules or been moved to different locations due to a new influx of workers who have contracts with Bon Appetit.

Jane*, a current employee at Maggie’s, said that there are new Bon Appetit workers coming to the coffee shop due to a history of staffing issues.

“Last year we were so woefully understaffed, the student workers being there became kind of normal,” the worker said. “Now that they are filing the space with full-time employees, the student workers are not as needed.”

Jane mentioned that those student workers are experiencing significant alterations to their schedules or are not being given any hours at all.

“I hope they can be moved to other places, but it appears as if they are having hours cut and in some cases, they aren’t getting shifts at all,” she said.

Bon Appetit General Manager, Ryan Jensen, said that while changes are being made, they are mostly due to openings in the schedule and that there are accommodations being made for current student workers.

“While we started the semester with big open time slots that we needed to have filled, until we could hire Bon Appetit employees to refill those openings from last year, students were able to fill those in and now we are trying to work with each individual student to find a time slot that works with their individual social and academic calendar and whether that’s at Maggie’s, at the Dovecote or Fields catering,” Jensen said.

Ani Baghoomian, Director of Operations, said that the inclusion of new Bon Appetit workers may mean that there are less hours for student employees.

“We are hiring full time Bon Appetit employees, and that means at any given time when those people are there with the other Bon Appetit employees there may be less shifts available for student workers,” Baghoomian said.

Jensen also said that some students are choosing not to continue working at Maggie’s for personal reasons.

“I think that there have been some culture changes over there. Some of the folks that have worked for us for a while … it’s no longer for them,” Jensen said. “And again, we try to offer people different opportunities, locations and time slots to keep people working who need to work but again it’s up to each individual if it’s something they can and need to prioritize.”

Sue*, another current worker at Maggie’s, said that someone she recently worked with has had her hours cut completely, and that the culture of Maggie’s has changed as a result of the new Bon Appetit employees.

“I know that there’s new Bon Appetit employees coming in and that has resulted in a lot of student jobs being lost,” Sue said. “They hired six new students to work this semester and they only were given one shift each for the most part, and most of them now are laid off … the dynamic of Maggie’s has shifted a lot.”

Hannah Salvo ’19, one of the employees who had her hours cut at Maggie’s, said that there is a feeling of uncertainty among the student workers and management.

“Bon Appetit doesn’t do a great job at telling the managers what is going on,” Salvo said. “There is just a general air of no one knows what’s going on at Maggie’s.”

Jane said that in her opinion, the Bon Appetit management is treating the student employees unfairly.

“I hope it pushes the school and management into creating a space that can employ all of the students and workers, without pushing anyone out,” Jane said. “The loyalty that the students at Maggie’s have shown deserves recognition.”