Robert Williams is director of food operations for ASUCLA.
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By Robert Williams
As the director of food operations for ASUCLA, I would like to
address some of the comments and information being circulated
regarding the use of agency workers in our facilities.
I started as a student dishwasher in Rieber Hall in 1978, and
was hired by ASUCLA as a manager in 1980. Upon being hired, I
immediately realized that working in an ASUCLA restaurant was
unlike any other food operation. With the exception of a small
number of career cooks, all jobs were done by part-time students.
Not only did the students fill the serving and cashiering spots,
but also kitchen preparation, dishwashing, maintenance, receiving
and cooking jobs. Even more impressive was the supervisory and
management functions delegated to students. They did most of the
scheduling, food product ordering, and staff development.
I was impressed from day one with the commitment of the student
workers and with the level of responsibility accepted by
supervisors. The holder of the top position, senior student
supervisor, acted as manager in the absence of a career manager and
was routinely responsible for opening or closing the facility. But
I can tell you, it was a very difficult way to run a
restaurant.
The first few weeks of each quarter were challenging to say the
least. Students, tending to their clear priority of finding classes
and getting settled, often waited to find jobs until the second or
third week. This situation was usually worse during finals week,
when we made every effort possible to let students cut back on work
to focus on their studies.
At first, I questioned why we would continue to attempt to run a
first-class food service division with such a limited number of
full-time employees. As a manager, I had no option but to fill
shifts with workers other than UCLA students. Then about a year
later, it came to me ““ there was an academic mission that
made ASUCLA different than other businesses “¦ it is all about
the students.
ASUCLA food service was not just about serving meals to the
campus community. It was also an environment which provided
opportunities for students to learn and develop important skills.
These skills (i.e. operational judgment, staff development, fiscal
responsibility, project management, and overall professional
growth) could be fostered within the student supervisory program.
Student development through these jobs has been a core mission and
philosophy within the Food Service Division throughout the
years.
We have guarded this model of student employment and student
leadership even though it has become increasingly difficult. In the
early ’90s, we saw a fall-off of student interest in food
service jobs. Faced with vacant student positions, we began
contracting with an outside agency to find people to fill in for
open student positions. We chose this route in an effort to
maintain the student structure and operating philosophy. In order
to maintain consistency, the agency paid these workers on average
the same rate as our non-supervisory students since they filled
what would otherwise be student jobs. Additionally, all agency
workers were told that if students applied for a position they were
filling, we would have to release them back to the agency for
reassignment.
We increased our student recruiting efforts over the following
years but continued to see a drop-off in student employment.
Operationally, it would have been much easier at that point to add
a number of full-time career employees. We knew, however, that a
change of that scope would modify the operating structure and
philosophy of the food service division. In addition, a change of
that magnitude would be virtually impossible to retreat from if the
downward trend in student applications reversed. In fact, we have
recently seen a positive trend in the number of students working in
food service. Reluctance to permanently disrupt our student
employment and development mission was the overriding reason we
chose the route of using agency workers.
It has become clear, however, that some of our former student
positions are likely to remain filled by agency staff. Recognizing
that it will represent a philosophical shift for the organization,
we fully support the creation of a number of new career food
service positions. We believe this can be done in a manner that
will minimize the erosion of the mission of student development and
student jobs while stabilizing our operations. More importantly, it
will fulfill the resolution passed by the ASUCLA board of directors
to insure that all “individuals working in positions under
the supervision of ASUCLA managers and in ASUCLA facilities on a
regular, ongoing basis should receive equitable wages and benefits,
including healthcare coverage, paid vacations, holiday, and sick
time”¦”
Contrary to the impression you may have received from other
sources, my staff and I highly value all workers in our facilities,
whether they are ASUCLA career employees, student employees or
agency workers. Our food service workers are great! These
individuals are absolutely essential to our daily operations and
their hard work and dedication is highly appreciated. In addition,
we fully support the right of employees to organize, and we have
done nothing to discourage these efforts. Although there are
additional costs associated with adding career positions, these
costs are not a result of the unionization of workers.
Working together, I am confident that we can come to a solution
that will be mutually beneficial to the workers and to the
association.