Although new dining services provider Bon Appétit has yet to make an appearance on campus, at least one current dining service employee is already angry with the company. He criticizes Bon Appétit for leaving workers unsure about where on campus they will be located, if they will have their normal health insurance, and whether they will even have a job at the University next year.

“We’re in the dark about a lot of things,” said Jeffrey Hill, a union steward who has worked as a chef at MoCon for the past 27 years. “Bon Appétit’s pissed off their workers before they’ve even arrived. There’s a lot of grumbling about what’s going on here.”

One of the main contentions revolves around Bon Appétit’s tinkering with the employees’ current Blue Cross health insurance plan—a plan that was a central component of the contract that the employees’ union negotiated in the early 1980s. According to Hill, the dining service search committee, on which there were three students and no dining staff representatives, promised to choose a company that would uphold the 25-year-old contract. But instead, Hill said, Bon Appétit asked its new employees to switch to a different plan.

“They want to give us a different plan through their own companies,” he said. “For them to say that nonchalantly across the table is bullshit and I told them that it was bullshit.”

According to Bon Appétit National Director of Communications and Industry Relations Maisie Ganzler, the company is looking out for workers’ interests as well as its own.

“National protocol is that we offer our own benefit package as long as employees don’t lose anything,” she said, while admitting that she could not comment on the specific situation. “We have 14,000 employees so it is more efficient for us to have a common benefits plan. One contract with one company allows greater buying-power if you go to an insurance company.”

Bon Appétit officials who led the negotiations were not available for comment. As far as allegations of a contract violation, Dean of Campus Programs Rick Culliton explained via e-mail what exactly had been promised.

“The University shared with the union leadership that we were going out to bid, letting the bidding companies know that we expected them to come in and recognize the current union that is in place,” he said.

According to David Connolly, a Bon Appétit official not directly involved with the negotiations, an agreement was ultimately reached.

“Bon Appétit and the Union have a tentative agreement that will give employees the option of staying with the Blue Cross health insurance plan or moving to a plan with another health care provider whose plan provides several additional benefits,” he said.

According to Hill, the offer to move to Bon Appétit’s health plan comes with a $1,000 bonus.

“They’re saying that if you decide to take our insurance we will give you a thousand dollars,” Hill said. “That is a complete and total bribe that what they’re doing is trying to dangle a carrot in front of our faces and see whose going to go for it. They want us to start fighting with each other. They’re trying to manipulate people before they walk in the door.”

Hill’s indictment extends beyond concerns about insurance. He believes that the University administration is set on cutting down the strength of the traditionally strong dining employees’ union, and that Bon Appétit has been enlisted in efforts to do that. Bon Appétit, he suspects, was the choice all along.

“What I’m nervous about is that Wesleyan acted like they were taking all sorts of bids but I think a long time ago that they knew Bon Appétit was going to be picked,” he said.

Annie Fox ’07, who served on the search committee to select a new food provider, emphasized that Bon Appétit was a clear choice in a statement published in the January 30, 2007 issue of the Argus.

“One of the things that was amazing about this process was that Bon Appétit was so clearly the top choice,” Fox said. “By the time we got through the interviews, the question wasn’t, ‘Who is our first choice?’ but, ‘When do we announce?’”

Hill sees the choice as based on business connections or nepotism.

“It’s about who knows who, who’s friends with who, and what influential person is friends with another influential person,” he said. “Overall, we get a feeling that they’re going to get into a fight with us.”

Culliton bluntly dismissed Hill’s speculation.

“No, that is not the case,” he said.

Hill said that criticism among dining staff has mainly concerned Bon Appétit’s lack of communication. It is not clear whether Summerfields will be a fully operational facility next year, serving lunch, dinner, and late night snacks. The completion date of the new campus center has not been announced. Although the company has officially promised to employ all 84 current staff members, many are wondering whether to look for new jobs. Hill cannot understand how a food service based around one central area will need as many workers.

“If you make hot dogs in five places, you need five people,” Hill said. “If you’re making one hot dog in one place you only need one person. People are starting to say, ‘Am I going to lose my job?’”

Ganzler promised that no jobs would be lost.

“We’ve made it clear from the beginning that we intend to employ all staff,” she said.

Culliton reaffirmed that statement.

“The current staff are eligible to be hired by Bon Appétit,” he said. “The staffing plan that Bon Appétit presented will not result in a reduction in work force as we move into the new facilities.”

Bon Appétit is a subsidiary of the Compass Group, a food provider that employs 160,000 people and owns other companies such as Levi Restaurants, Eurest, and Morrison Management.

Hill believes that Bon Appétit was not clear about its allegiances to a much larger company.

“They promoted themselves as a smaller, high-class company, but they are one of many companies under the Compass umbrella,” Hill said.

Glazer said that while Bon Appétit is a subsidiary, it functions as an independent operation.

“We have our own CEO, our own policy,” she said.

The company has set high standards for its success: treating employees well, serving fresh foods, and being socially responsible. But will they measure up? Hill is skeptical.

“It sounds great—I’m into fresh foods,” Hill said. “Why would I want to go to work and open a can? But let’s see them pull it off.”