Cornell students see changes to dining operations amid worker strike

Cornell students will see no hot meals being served during lunch on campus and other changes to dining services as they start classes this week due to the ongoing strike by dining hall employees.

The workers, which are represented by United Auto Workers (UAW) 2300, headed to the picket line last week after negotiations with the school stalled over their labor contract.

In a joint statement posted on the university’s website on Friday, Cornell’s Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Christine Lovely and Interim Provost John Siciliano shared that no hot meals would be offered in residential dining rooms during lunch on weekdays. Instead, students will be able to receive boxed to-go lunches at select dining locations on campus in exchange for a meal swipe. Hot and cold dining options will still be provided at residential dining rooms during breakfast and dinner.

In addition, the university has asked faculty and staff who typically purchase food and drink on campus to bring their meals from home while the strike and negotiations continues.

In a letter to the editor published by the Cornell Sun last Wednesday, Laurie Johnston, senior director of staff and labor relations at Cornell’s Department of Human Resources, asked UAW to again consider using a meditator of their choosing during negotiations to help both parties reach an agreement. UAW, however, has rejected that request, according to the university.

Last Thursday, the university offered a tier-less wage proposal and increased wages. UAW responded with a counteroffer that “[Put back] on the table numerous and costly demands that they had previously agreed to set aside,” Lovely and Siciliano argued  

According to a post on UAW Local 2300’s website, union members were present at Cornell’s CISER Building over the weekend to continue to negotiate with university officials, however, no one from the university showed up to the bargaining table.