Union representatives say they will fight a recent decision to close the Arbor Room, the cafeteria that has served students in the basement of Hart House for 51 years.
The almost institutional eatery, which is to close June 30 until an another food service is found, hardly seems like a candidate for closure. Patrons, including faculty and visiting alumni, fill the tables at all hours, lining up for the made-to-order deli sandwiches (including the famous avocado club), halal food, and chili bar. It serves well into the evenings, when it presents a popular rotating program of concerts, a list that included indie chanteuse Sarah Slean back in the day.
Hart House’s bottom line isn’t benefiting from this popularity, however. According to its warden, Margaret Hancock, the Arbor Room has always operated at a loss. The Hart House board of Stewards recently hired a consultant, who proposed 43 changes to increase the profit margin of the cafeteria. But despite an expanded lunch menu and extensive renovations, the Arbor Room will have lost $90,000 at the end of the coming fiscal year, a problem Hancock attributes to labour costs.
“The staff are unionized, and are therefore paid well relative to the food industry,” she said. “We cannot make up these losses by raising food prices because the majority of our customers are students.” The Hart House Board of Stewards, composed primarily of students, gave Hancock a mandate to find an alternative food service provider on January 12. One hasn’t been found yet, but both Tim Hortons and multinational Sodhexo (which already operates cafeterias in Robarts and Sid Smith) have been mentioned as possible candidates.
Both the local unit of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the Arbor Room’s staff, and the Students’ Administrative Council (SAC) oppose Hart House’s decision. CUPE objected to the absence of prior notice for the ten Arbor Room employees and their manager, whom the closure will affect directly. According to the workers’ collective agreement, the staff will be guaranteed jobs elsewhere in the university. Nevertheless, CUPE national representative Mary-Catherine McCarthy said she deplores the reduced labour conditions that will follow the closure.
“It’s a shame to replace $15-per-hour jobs with $8-per-hour jobs in a place that’s been operated by the university for 51 years,” McCarthy stated.
SAC President Paul Bretscher argues that Hancock and the Board of Stewards should not have decided to seek an alternate food service provider without consulting the wider student body.
“Hart House receives $100 from each student,” he said. “Therefore, students should have the final say in the Arbor Room’s closure. The current model calls for a corporate affair, in a national historic site, which students will be subsidizing.”
Bretscher blames the Arbor Room’s failure to turn a profit on the nature of the Hart House budget.
“Hart House has allowed its finances to spiral out of control because it expected tuition fees to rise, increasing the funds it receives from students.”
Both CUPE and SAC intend to lobby Hart House to reverse the planned closure of the Arbor Room. Hancock states that she expects opposition to her decision.
“People care deeply about where their food comes from.”
