Underpaid and Understaffed, Unheard and Unseen: The Neglect of Dining Workers and Other Staff by the Connecticut College Administration

Photo courtesy of Robbie Lynch ’24

There is an air of tepid urgency here: dirty dishes keep piling on and sent out, food trays are emptied and attempted to be quickly replenished, and a line trails behind the only grill cook on campus. This is the scene at Harris Refectory at approximately 6 p.m. on any given day; the sudden influx of students has left the 30 or so Dining Staff workers incapacitated. The often complained about broken dishwasher is manned by one person and workers are brought over from Oasis — the on-campus snack shop — to contend with the Refectory’s rising demands. All of these problems are only visible at very specific instances, however, when it becomes clear that Harris is more than just a dining hall. It is where students, faculty and staff congregate to become part of this broader sense of security, comfort and home without which the whole school would collapse. But at whose expense is this sense of security coming from? 

It is those Dining Staff workers, mostly immigrants or first-generation Americans from minority demographics, who keep the school running and its students part of this larger family. Asides from maintaining the dining infrastructure on campus, they build important relationships with the student body, especially the school’s BIPOC and international student population who feel an immediate sense of comfort in their presence. Yet they remain underpaid and overworked — which are just a few examples of institutional problems that Conn’s administration has not prioritized fixing.? Testimonies collected from students and staff illustrate the overlooked difficulties faced by the Dining Staff, valuable members of our community that Conn students so cherish and upon which the institution relies.

Wages

When talking to members of Dining Staff, low wages were one of the main concerns we heard. Workers were promised by the Bergeron administration an increase of $2/hr in their wage for every year they remain employed – a promise that has not yet come to fruition. Some have worked here for more than 10 years and have only seen a 2-3 dollar increase in their salary. The highest paying workers make $19.00/hour, which, according to Salary.com, is within the bottom 25th percentile for dining/hospitality staff in the New London area. Even when promoted, workers barely see an increase in their salary.

Looking at the average cost of living in the area, the wages of Conn’s Dining Staff are insufficient to make a decent living. Over the past 3 years cost of living in the New London area has risen, for example the average rent for a single bedroom apartment is now $1,100 (CT Insider). Additionally, the meager possibilities for growth within Dining Services leave workers with no other options but to work a second job or go somewhere else in an attempt to advance their careers. 

Understaffing

Over the past 10 years, many workers have opted for the latter and left Connecticut College. However, as Dining Services have continued to lose staff, the administration has failed to hire more workers to fill the absences. Currently, the dining halls are severely understaffed and as a consequence, those who remain are overworked. As one worker testified: “There used to be 3 workers to look over each station, now we only have one per station.” 

When speaking about their experience in general another staff member said, “10 years ago we had less students, more employees. We were happier and the food was better. Now, many people have been fired or have quit, but they are not getting replaced. We are overworked and tired. It may even seem like we are in a bad mood, but it is not the students fault and we hope they know that.”

Given the problem of understaffing, some staff have been offered additional roles without the appropriate training and salary that reflects the increase in responsibilities. Additionally, over the past 10 years, the College has continuously closed down other dining options available on campus, such as the dining halls in Knowlton, Freeman, and Smith. Isa Amaro ‘23, who served on the Dining Committee and worked at Harris in 2019, shares that “The Management of Dining Staff has continuously advocated for the idea of closing JA in the future.” How can a school that’s accepting more and more students, cram all of them into one understaffed dining hall?

Negligence

These grievances have been expressed to Human Resources, but have been ignored. Our conversations with Dining Staff revealed that this is a consistent problem. Requests for paid time off go unanswered, questions are often neglected, and complaints are disregarded. This makes Dining Staff feel invisible, despite the vital role they play in keeping the college running.

Compounded with this ignorance, Dining Staff often must work with broken equipment. Supply chain issues are understood by everyone, but many are familiar with how long it took to replace the display heater in Oasis, or the grill in Harris. Oasis is particularly problematic: as a student employee who worked as an aide there, Suleman Saleem ‘25 was personally witness to key equipment in the kitchen, like fridges, freezers, ovens, the dishwasher and the ice machine being in a state of disrepair. 

This situation of willingful neglect, it seems, has lingered, making it difficult for Dining Staff to do their job. Morale is currently at an all-time low. One staff member states, “All of this is why the food tastes the way it does now.”

Conclusion

Low wages, lack of opportunity, and neglect of employees at Connecticut College represent an institutional problem that goes beyond dining. Not only do Custodial and Maintenance staff experience many similar challenges, but so do workers across different offices including the Holleran Center and DIEI. In fact, many staff in these offices barely make above $20.00 an hour. We cannot call ourselves an equitable and inclusive community when our own staff is overworked, underpaid, and ignored. While we devote ourselves to fixing long-standing issues across campus and the school is in the process of conducting a salary review, we urge the administration to take the situation of staff members seriously and give them the pay raise they deserve.  

If the kitchen is the heart of the home, then Harris is the heart of our campus. The people that work there are the ones that keep it pumping. The Dining Staff pledges their complete support behind the student led movement for equity on campus and we, as students, must pledge our support for them too.