Caf staff get axe

Concordia is probably going to lose about 30 familiar faces, thanks to the vagaries of contract bids. Last week, Sodexho Alliance, the corporation that runs the seventh-floor cafeteria in the Hall Building, announced that it had lost the bid to continue running the student eatery to an as-yet unannounced competitor (although thought to be Compass Group Food Services). As a result, a memo was circulated to its Concordia Food Service employees stating that their efforts would no longer be needed as of May 31. On Tuesday, workers were officially told by management they were to be permanently laid off.

This being Concordia, students are, naturally, protesting. Leading the charge to save the caf workers is 26-year-old linguistics student Mike Barkey, who has been lobbying the administration to ensure the workers keep their jobs under the new owners. “We’re trying to build a widespread Concordia community campaign and sign letters asking [Vice-Rector, Services] Michael Di Grappa and whoever else to negotiate on behalf of the workers and ask the new company to offer jobs to all long-term employees,” says Barkey. “There are about 15 people who have worked there for between 15 and 25 years. We want the new company to offer continued employment with no pay cuts and no loss of benefits.”
Barkey says the Tuesday announcement by Sodexho management did not offer any severance package, but that the Teamsters Union Local 106, which represents the workers, will take up the fight. :

—Patrick Lejtenyi