As a record-breaking 37.9 inches of snow fell on Providence on Sunday night, staff members from Dining Services slept on army cots in the Sharpe Refectory and Verney-Wolley Dining Hall. As essential workers, Dining Services employees were expected to come into work during and after the blizzard.
The current contract between the University and the United Service and Allied Workers of Rhode Island — which represents Dining Services — states that “in anticipation of severe storms, the University will provide sleeping cots and bedding for Dining Services employees who must remain on site for the evening.”
The same provision is in the previous union contract that began in 2021. According to United Service and Allied Workers Business Agent Amy Cardone, it also appeared in contracts from 2018 and 2000.
But for the past 15 to 20 years, employees have been offered stays at the Hope Club or nearby hotels during inclement weather, according to multiple employees. Vice President of Dining George Barboza confirmed that this had been the case in previous years.
The switch to army cots deterred some employees from staying in dining halls overnight, six employees told The Herald. According to Barboza, 14 staff members — excluding management — stayed on campus overnight on Sunday.
But not all essential workers are sleeping on cots. According to University spokesperson Brian Clark, members of Brown’s Department of Public Safety have been provided hotel rooms during the blizzard.
“Some emergency personnel from DPSEM have made use of hotel rooms as we’ve worked to maintain the essential presence of law enforcement and emergency responders on campus this week,” Clark wrote in an email to The Herald.
“Given variations in roles, work locations, responsibilities, collective bargaining agreements and other factors, we’ve deployed multiple solutions across units to keep essential services operational,” he added.
Dining Services employees are not paid for the time they spend on campus overnight. According to Barboza, for each hour employees work during an administrative closure, they are given an hour of compensatory time — paid time off that can be used at a later date.
But because Gov. Dan McKee declared a state of emergency in Rhode Island on Sunday, employees had the option to be compensated instead of receiving paid time off for working overtime, in alignment with their contract.
Verney-Wolley Dining Hall Lead Cook Rabbit Hoffinger said he decided to sleep at his sister’s house nearby. He said that some employees decided not to come into work because they would be required to sleep on cots instead of being housed at hotels or the Hope Club.
According to Hoffinger, five employees slept on army cots at the V-Dub on Sunday.
Cots in the Sharpe Refectory on Tuesday.
“They need to do a little better with where everyone sleeps, because anyone who doesn’t sleep over, they run a really big risk of not coming in,” Hoffinger said. “I’ve had some guys call out today who were like, ‘I don’t know if I want to sleep with everybody.’”
“You can’t just throw cots in the dining room and hope everyone shows,” he added.
On Monday, the V-Dub closed at 3 p.m. rather than 11 p.m. as initially planned. In an email to The Herald, Barboza wrote that the change was due to low staffing levels.
Chase Uglialoro, a cook at The Ratty, decided not to stay at the dining hall overnight because of the change in accommodations. “I honestly was disgusted with the circumstances,” he said. “The rate of call-outs is going up because nobody wants to stay on a cot.”
According to Barboza, union contract language does not prevent Dining Services from providing other accommodations on campus or at hotels. “(We) feel strongly that the safest option for our staff is to adhere to the mutually agreed upon contract language and provide cots and bedding for them to stay onsite,” he wrote, noting that Dining Services has updated its Emergency Plans for Dining.
Employees are provided an army cot, sleeping bag and pillow, according to Rosa Gonzalez, a cashier at the Ratty who slept on a cot in the building on Sunday and Monday nights. She said that five employees slept in the Ratty on Sunday and four slept there on Monday.
Gonzalez said she decided to stay at the Ratty overnight because she used her last remaining sick days after the Dec. 13 mass shooting.
According to Gonzalez, employees who slept in the Ratty were unable to shower. “There is one (shower) in the female bathroom downstairs, but in the seven years I’ve worked here, I’ve never seen it turned on,” Gonzalez wrote in a message to The Herald. “I’m not even sure it works.”
Lauren Albanese, a cook at the V-Dub who did not stay there overnight on Sunday, said that the V-Dub does not have a shower. Barboza did not respond to a request for comment on the accessibility of showers for those sleeping in the Ratty or the V-Dub.
“I can’t wait to get home tomorrow,” Gonzalez wrote in a message to The Herald on Monday night.
In the past, when employees were housed in dorms or the Hope Club, “it was fun,” Hoffinger said. “Sometimes we would score a nice little spot, and we could all hang out and play house.”
“In the 20 years that I've been there, I’ve never had to sleep on a cot in the dining hall,” said Jay Massei, a cook at the Ratty. He added that when hotels or private rooms were offered, employees would come in on their day off and stay overnight to make sure they could work the next day.
“Those of us who stay over put our Brown family before our own,” Hoffinger wrote in a message to The Herald.
Emily Feil is a university news and metro editor covering staff & student labor and RISD. She is from Long Beach, NY and plans to concentrate in English and international & public affairs. In her free time, she can be found watching bad TV and reading good books.
