Mather Dining Hall Employees To Receive No Hour Reduction After a Week of Demonstrations

Savannah Brooks ’26

Editor-in-Chief

Beginning on Monday, Oct. 27, Chartwells employees in Mather demonstrated daily at lunchtime after receiving word that their hours would be reduced, leaving no 40-hour employees left. On Friday, Oct. 31, after a week of these demonstrations, the workers were informed that their hours would not be reduced at least until their contract expires for the spring semester. 

Chartwells employees also demonstrated in October of 2016, similarly related to a decrease in worker hours and a subsequent cut in benefits such as health insurance. Employees additionally saw a reduction of hours overturned in 2007 after a series of rallies. Chartwells is a part of the Compass Group, the largest contract foodservice company in the U.S. Chartwells is partnered with 350 college campuses across the country, and has been criticized as a college dining option for Compass Group’s investments in military operations, as well as a number of lawsuits over its existence. Subjects of the lawsuits include exposing listeria to prisoners in Ontario jails, serving horse and pork meat in burgers marketed to be made of beef and, in one settled lawsuit, allegedly overcharged for low-quality food served to DC Public Schools.

The workers told the Tripod that they were informed the hours reduction was due to over 100 students choosing not to return to buying into the meal plan for the spring semester, but they were not sure why students are not choosing to return. In a survey the Student Government Association sent out on behalf of the Tripod, students were asked why they chose to opt out of the meal plan. One student who responded to the survey opted out of the meal plan for the first time in the fall of 2023. The student, who has celiac disease, told the Tripod that they lost 20 pounds in a month after eating exclusively at the allergy-free station in Mather, and that management was generally dismissive of their complaints.

“I resent the implication that I’m responsible for the worker’s hours being cut,” the student wrote in the survey. “I tried working with the GM to see what could be fixed, and he didn’t care. I loved the people who worked the allergy station, and it’s not their fault that Chartwells can’t be gluten free (they even label it “avoiding gluten” to skirt the legal definitions of gluten free). My life is worse and harder compared to my friends on the meal plan. I eat basically all my meals alone. I spend at least 10-15 hours a week cooking that I could use to study. When I’m not feeling well and lack the energy to cook, I just don’t eat. I would rather be on the meal plan, but Chartwells is incapable of serving food that won’t poison me. At this point, they’re violating the ADA by being unable and unwilling to provide the reasonable accommodation of gluten free food.”

Out of 27 respondents, three other students identified allergies as their main concern that led them to opting out, with each one identifying management as a source of anxiety. Trinity’s overall enrollment is also down for the 2025-26 academic year, with the percent of accepted first-year applications enrolling at Trinity dropping to 22.2% after holding at 25% for the last four years, meaning that fewer students are enrolled in general, particularly first-years, who are generally most likely to be enrolled in the meal plan. 

“During the COVID-19 era, we lost many students, and we didn’t lose as many hours as we are now. Food costs are going up for Chartwells and they’re trying to get money back,” one worker told the Tripod. The workers claimed that there were no longer any workers who would be working 40+ hours a week, meaning that most workers’ benefits would be significantly reduced. At the demonstration, they told the 30 students who gathered to watch the protest that they would be demonstrating every day at lunchtime until the hour reduction was reversed. They encouraged the students to put pressure on Trinity by issuing complaints, or even having their parents email the administration. “We work with this company. We’re not greedy,” one worker said. “We work with them to cut hours, but enough is enough.” 

In an interview with the Tripod, Trinity College President Dan Lugo, who the workers cited as a contact for students who wanted to help reverse the reduction of hours, spoke to his level of power in the situation. “We love all the members that work at providing the services and experiences in this community. Our Chartwells employees are really beloved and endeared members of this community,” Lugo said. “But they are employees of Chartwells — an independent company who is a subsidiary of a very successful and large provider of food service. So, we don’t have any immediate opportunity to impact their employment relationship with their employer, Chartwells. All we can do, and we are in the middle of doing, is encourage both sides to ensure they’re at the table and that they are creating the best negotiated terms for their employees to continue to do great work.”

The workers’ contract and their hours will be revisited in January as their negotiations will begin in the upcoming weeks. 

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