Worker Testimonials
Students and staff who have experienced inequitable working conditions under Aramark share their stories. For their privacy, most testimonies are anonymous.
"I worked for them that whole year, the following fall I worked half a quarter and then was about to lose my mind and so I stopped working there. At the ridge, I felt like I was just a number. The turnover rate was huge. I felt like a was a tool for the company. There wasn't any cohesion. During orientation, [the manager] said ‘you cannot call out because you have a headache’. As someone who gets migraines, there is no way I can come in when that happens. He said that very rudely.”
The Ridge Dining Hall
TESTIMONY #1
"One time I called in because I had a sinus infection and told [my manager] I was vomiting. Vomiting is one of the major health hazards we are told we MUST NOT come into work with, for customers and our own safety. When I called in with 3+ hours before my shift (meaning I couldn’t be made to come in according to the policy they love to quote) he said that I HAD to come in because we were short staffed and that it was come in or risk being written up and probably fired. This was the day after a safety meeting where he said, 'make sure to take care of yourself, if you’re sick take care and don’t come in.'”
Zoe's Bagels
TESTIMONY #2
Testimony #3
"The most notable thing there is the turnover rate: Even among full time employees, managers and supervisors, most people quit after around 6 months. I have had over 4 different location supervisors in the past 48 months, and the average student worker only seems to stay for one quarter... They rely heavily on student managers to do most of the work, and they get a $1 per hour raise and a free meal plan. SMs are generally overworked and underpaid, particularly at my location, which is meant to have around 3-4 SMs in order to ensure that the work load is evenly distributed. At the beginning of this year, they only had one, and she had to work absurdly long weeks. I was given the offer to become an SM, and turned it down, because it was an impossibly large workload for someone trying to not fail classes."
Anonymous Location
Testimony #4
“The food is just.. honestly I think it’s what most concerns me is the food. Generally, it’s not the best quality. They have a salad bar and everything feels like it's out of a cheap plastic bag. It doesn’t feel fresh or nutritious. Sometimes they’ll be serving rice that’s not fully cooked.”
Panda Express
Testimony #5
“They’re about money...everything is about the bottom line of money. They will sacrifice customer service, and cut labor to the point that they can hardly do their job.”
Underground Coffee House
Testimony #6
"When I tried to clock in 5 minutes early so that I could prep the food, which sometimes meant actually assembling and cooking quesadillas, which takes way more than 5 minutes, I was verbally reprimanded. I was somehow expected to arrive and clock in at exactly the same time that students were allowed into the dining hall but also have all the food ready to serve before they got there? It was impossible and when I talked to my supervisor about it they were sympathetic but said that if I ever clocked in 5 minutes early again I would be formally reprimanded. Clearly Aramark cared more about saving a few cents than actually allowing workers enough time to do their jobs well and serve students well."
Viking Commons
Testimony #7
"I had to be at work at 6 in the morning, 4 times a week for 2 years. Usually they expected me to realistically be there at 5:45, not clock in and get the stuff done that needed to be done, then clock in at 6 o'clock… I didn’t get paid for that”
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“There was a lot of putting people down in lieu of other people. For instance one person did well so we’re gonna put everyone else down.”
Ridgeway Commons
Testimony #8
"I had a dorm-mate that worked in an Aramark dining hall... The turnover rate was truly bad. Additionally, it seemed she was the go to person called into work to cover others’ shifts. She regularly had shifts scheduled in the early early morning and working late at night, or was given less than 24 hours to cover someone else’s shift but at the same time, it was near impossible for her to get her shifts covered if she couldn’t make it to work."
"She constantly talked about only getting 3 (or less) hours of sleep a night, likely from trying to balance working under Aramark with classes. She regularly looked like she was hanging on by a thread... I couldn’t understand how she kept functioning and passing her classes. I remember her looking forward to the end of the year when she wouldn’t have to work at the dining halls again."
"Trying to say “no”... is hard, especially when you need the job income like she did to go toward tuition, buy food, and other necessities and corporations know that."
Anonymous Dining Hall
Testimony #9
"My direct supervisor was horrendous. And I reported him multiple times. He would yell and belittle me constantly and at one point even threatened me. HR would not take a *formal* report until I used the word “harass” even though I discussed threats, control, and manipulation in earlier reports. When students would report issues to me that I had to report to HR, they would never come in to take a formal report, or even respond to my emails to let me and my peers know our concerns were heard."
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When I quit I was harassed by all levels of management. When I reported it to HR I was told “well you’re putting us in a really bad place by leaving.” I was also told they regret putting hours into training me, even though I was able to train 3 other managers for them in my time."
Anonymous Student Manager
Testimony #10
“They never made any attempts to talk to me and say ‘hey, you aren’t doing well.’ There was almost no communication about this. But when I left my manager told me “if you need a reference, don’t ask me.” “I felt disposable. Aramark made it feel like it was just a workplace, no cohesion."
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“Late night is absurd. People who work that shift don't get off till 11 or 12. The dish room is a confined space, you can burn yourself easily, it felt like a cage. Late night made people work really late. My last quarter, my boss scheduled me for 4 late night shifts a week. That was pretty much the reason that I quit.”
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“They do not make any attempt to give you time off for your finals; you have to find others to take your shift. They were not very friendly in their communication as well. ”
Anonymous Dining Hall
Testimony #11
Regarding ideas for improvement: “If it takes too much money, they won’t do it. They always say that money is an issue, even where the idea wouldn’t cost more.”
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[For Aramark] “It’s just about the money, not how we take care of people and making money and finding that balance”
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On unionizing: “Aramark did not like it. Often it would be thrown back in our faces - if we couldn’t do something, they’d say ‘You can thank the union for that’”
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