Harvard University Dining Services workers who were laid off after HUDS closed facilities last month received the option to shift into new roles beginning Jan. 27, on seniority in an internal reshuffling process known as âbumping.â
Twenty HUDS workers are looking for new positions after the University closed four units, including the Culinary Support Group kitchen, which produced soups, sauces, salads, and pastas for the entire campus. Those workers can choose to either take an open position or âbumpâ a less senior HUDS employee out of their position and take their job, according to a procedure laid out in the contract between Harvard and UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents the Universityâs dining workers.
When Angela Y. Zhong ’24, a freshman from Cypress, T.X., arrived on campus on Thursday, she anticipated starting her “normal” college experience. Though the College invited freshmen to live in residence last semester, Zhong decided to complete her first semester of college from home.
“I really felt like I was missing out last semester,” Zhong said. “I thought I would petition, and I also just wanted to meet new people.
Students invited to live in residence this semester will encounter a far-from-normal campus experience, which began for many this week with a move-in process modified for the pandemic era.
In December, the College announced that it was expanding spring housing to accommodate 3,100 undergraduates compared to the 25 percent of students who lived in residence during the fall semester. Students living on campus this semester seniors, enrolled juniors, students with difficult learning environments, and petitioning juniors returning from leaves of absences
Contracted dining workers at two Harvard schools received welcome news this week as Harvard Medical School announced it would not pursue 16 layoffs as planned, and Harvard Law School announced it would continue paying contracted dining employees and eventually bring them in-house.
The University reduced support for employees covered by its emergency excused absence policy, which had sustained pay and benefits for all employees whose work had been suspended due to the pandemic, on Jan. 15. Idled contracted employees could no longer receive pay and direct employees could receive up to 70 percent of their pay, though continued application of the original policy was up to each Harvard school.