Cafe Mac workers, who have been organizing to improve their working conditions since last semester, took a major step forward on Friday, Nov. 15 when they released a petition enumerating workplace demands. They sent the petition to Macalester’s senior leadership team (SLT) and Amy Tomes, the general manager of Macalester’s branch of Bon Appétit. Originally, the SLT agreed to Cafe Mac workers’ request to meet to discuss their demands, but they have since rescinded that offer.
The petition demands a pay increase to $18 per hour (up from the $15.57 per hour that all student workers paid by the hour receive), more comprehensive job training, meal plan discounts and time-and-a-half pay for those working during finals weeks, holidays and school breaks.
Another demand focuses on alleviating the physical discomforts of working at Cafe Mac by providing rubber standing pads, fans, more rags for handling hot items and other infrastructure updates. Cafe Mac worker Luca Schira ’27 said that, while the dining and serving areas of the dining hall were updated during this year’s renovation, the kitchen still suffers from uneven flooring and inadequate ventilation.
Not all of the SLT members share Schira’s belief in the need for change.
“I do not have any concerns about the working conditions at Cafe Mac,” Vice President for Administration and Finance Patricia Langer wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly.
Schira, who organized the petition, said he began his sophomore year knowing he wanted to petition administration for better working conditions. Though he didn’t enjoy working at Cafe Mac during his first year, he stayed on to help improve conditions for fellow workers.
“I already came into [this school year] knowing I want to do a petition to get something, win something,” Schira said. This year’s organizing began, though, when a co-worker of Schira’s approached him with their negative experience working at the Grille. Grille workers had been able to sit in a chair kept in their station so that they could get time off their feet during their shift.
“It was really hot back there,” Schira said, “And they took away their chair. So that’s what started all of it.”
Schira then assembled a group of Cafe Mac workers and met with them to discuss their concerns. After a couple of meetings, Schira and other workers sat down to draft a petition. They based their petition on a similar one that had been considered at the end of the previous semester but was tabled because workers lacked time to circulate it and send it to the administration.
After removing some elements from last semester’s petition and adding new ones, Schira printed out the petition and began propagating copies among Cafe Mac workers. Within a couple of weeks, Schira amassed 29 signatures out of 44 Cafe Mac workers. Schira suspects, though, that the latter figure — maintained by Bon Appétit — is outdated.
“I disagree with their number of 44,” Schira said. “I think it’s 38 and probably less. I’ve been reaching out to everybody on the list of Cafe Mac workers, and I have my own list and it’s 38 because some people quit on the first week and they’re still considered workers at Cafe Mac.”
Nonetheless, Schira proceeded with signatures from a majority of Cafe Mac workers and sent out the petition on Nov. 15, stipulating that, if the SLT did not respond by 5 p.m. on Nov. 22, he and other Cafe Mac workers might consider escalatory action.
“I was really excited when I got [the demands] done,” Schira said. “I have been working on this since March, basically. This has been my ultimate goal, and when it fell apart last year, it sucked a lot.”
Langer responded to Schira’s email at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 22, half an hour before the imposed deadline. Schira explained that, in the email, Langer detailed the current working conditions at Cafe Mac as they relate to workers’concerns, and invited Cafe Mac workers to meet with her to discuss the demands.
For example, Langer wrote that Bon Appétit job applications are already available and that the current wage for Cafe Mac student workers complies with city law. She also explained that student employees can go through the Center for Disability Services if they need fans, chairs, standing pads and other comfort-increasing accommodations, according to Schira.
Schira felt that Langer was making excuses in some of the responses she gave.
“[The current wage] doesn’t really matter; we’re asking for more than that,” Schira said.
Despite these qualms and the long wait for the email, Schira was glad to receive this correspondence.
“It came as a shock to me that they sent the email, but overall, I’m very happy that they did, because it means we’re actually making some progress toward a meeting with them,” he said.
However, the meeting has since been called off. On Monday, Nov. 25, the Macalester Undergraduate Workers’ Union (MUWU) filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the SLT changed their plan for considering Cafe Mac workers’ demands.
“Because I want to avoid even the appearance of infringing on the right to organize, I will not be meeting separately with student employees working in dining services,” Langer wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly.
Although Cafe Mac workers’ demands are not organized directly by MUWU, many dining hall workers and organizers, including Schira, are involved with MUWU as well. In addition, Schira had hoped that, if Cafe Mac workers win their demands, it would boost MUWU’s efforts.
“I’m still not entirely sure what [the decision not to meet] means,” Schira wrote in a direct message to The Mac Weekly. “Some people told me they think it’s just an excuse not to meet, I don’t necessarily think that’s true. I think what [the SLT is] afraid of is: they know they will refuse our demands and it may escalate from there and having that happen during this process with the NLRB wouldn’t look good. But I also don’t see how not meeting with us achieves the goal of not infringing on our rights to organize.”
With their plans for a meeting off the table, Cafe Mac workers intend to regroup next week to determine a response and decide on the future of their campaign.
