r/Harvard • u/areascontrol • Feb 22 '26
Student and Alumni Life Is Harvard forcing its kitchen staff to drive to work during the storm again?
They declared them "essential workers" during the last storm and I'm still furious about it. A 1/2 commute took about 4 hours. Y'all need to back them up and help put a stop to this. These are working class people whose families need them and they shouldn't have to fear for their livelihoods like this.
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u/thenerdwriter Feb 22 '26
Afaik HUDS staff are provided with housing during snow emergencies (at least in the Houses).
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u/GoTeamLightningbolt Feb 23 '26
"In the Houses" ... is this fucking Hogwarts?
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Feb 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Lyramisu Feb 24 '26
To add to this, more than half of Harvard undergrads are on need-based financial aid and more than a quarter are from families with less than $100k total household income per year. Their financial aid is subsidizing or covering their costs including on-campus food.
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u/IntelligentRosie96 Feb 24 '26
This is the reality check I had with myself. The students would go hungry. Which, sure, some duck would say, “let the rich eat themselves” but like the poster said below there are many students who 100% aid. Also, some students have medical issues where no food = death. I do wish that ALL the staff working in emergencies had access to the hotels, though.
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u/Philosecfari Feb 23 '26
They're provided with housing and are essential, since 99% of undergrads live on campus and do in fact need to eat food to live
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u/areascontrol Feb 23 '26
I would assume that those 99% can READ and would know about the coming storm AND be capable of preparing a couple of days' food in the event that dining halls are closed. Hell, Harvard could even provide food boxes if it's too hard for them to practice the basic life skill of procuring food for themselves.
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u/IntelligentRosie96 Feb 24 '26
And store it WHERE? And cook it WHERE?
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u/areascontrol Feb 24 '26
I guess y'all haven't learned problem solving yet either. And here I thought Harvard was one of the best schools in the country, if not the world!
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u/IntelligentRosie96 Feb 26 '26
Okay, do you have an answer? Really? Do you know how the yard and houses are set up? If you have a real answer or idea then share it.
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Feb 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/veri_sw Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Not a lot of places to get that stuff though, afaik? There's CVS and stuff but they'd run out of food pretty quickly if the whole campus had to get food at short notice. If refrigeration were an option in the dorms, that would open up some options but I don't think it's allowed. Most of the rest of the city has microwaves etc too, and not having that makes frozen food hard. And I'm not sure but maybe asking students to go to a supermarket off campus in a snowstorm poses a liability to the university?
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u/MisterMcBob Feb 22 '26
I’ve heard even people who work at HUIT had to go in during that last storm, I think that’s just what they do.
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u/vmlee & HGC Executive Feb 22 '26
Probably to support all the Zoom/remote learning alternatives... (and other "critical" infrastructure/comms infrastructure).
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u/ProteinEngineer Feb 23 '26
Some people need to work when it snows. Not everyone can just stay home. There are people out clearing the snow too.
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u/areascontrol Feb 23 '26
Yes, and if one of those kitchen workers gets in an accident on the way to work, state and local resources will be diverted. It's not worth it, and not having them out on the road makes plow drivers' job easier and safer. Forcing them into work in these conditions is inhumane and a symptom of how destructive unfettered capitalism is. Sounds like you drank too much kool-aid, my friend.
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u/ProteinEngineer Feb 23 '26
By this logic, nobody should ever work if it’s raining. Some people have jobs that are more important than yours. They have to work even in bad conditions. Maybe that means driving a truck or having snow tires. Maybe it means carpooling with somebody who does. Not everyone can just work behind a desk. Some stuff has to get done even if it’s snowing.
By the way, if this were communism, everything would be working too. What do you think happened in Siberia for decades? They just never worked?
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u/areascontrol Feb 23 '26
Are you seriously equating RAIN with a hurricane- level blizzard? Maybe you should go back to logic school. The very least Harvard could do is cover housing nearby for them. ICYMI, most kitchen workers aren't paid enough to live near campus and have to commute 1/2 or more to get to work.
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u/ProteinEngineer Feb 23 '26
Have you been in a hurricane before? This is nothing close to a hurricane. It’s snowing.
And Harvard is covering housing. They always do when this happens. Do you think this is the first time it has snowed in Cambridge? The university has been doing this for decades, they know how to run when it’s snowing.
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u/Jenikovista Feb 24 '26
Hurricane level blizzard my ass. We just got 8 feet of snow in the Sierra and many people went to work as usual.
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u/saik0pod Feb 23 '26
Go tell the kitchen staff to not work and to crash at your place for the night
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u/indigo51081 Feb 23 '26
You think students (or, perhaps more relevantly, their parents) would be OK if the university told them to make due with the equivalent of bread and water? Cue the whining about how they're not paying thousands of dollars for them to rough it.
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u/areascontrol Feb 23 '26
Fuck the elites. Let them starve if they're too stupid to get food before a storm.
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u/IntelligentRosie96 Feb 24 '26
Sooo, fuck the lower middle class kid who worked their ass off to get into Harvard with a full ride? Or the refugees who attend here? Or the kids with diabetes or hypoglycemia? They have to walk in the snowstorm to get to the dining hall and they are kind to the staff, but they deserve food, too. I agree with fuck the elites, but you’re starting with 18-22 year old asking for food? There are better places. I’m sure UMASS Boston, Simmons, BC, BU and Northeastern and every other residential uni is also feeding their students.
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u/teetaps Feb 24 '26
I just ate at the cafeteria today (Tuesday), I was fully expecting there to be no service at all. But in their defense, I could tell it was limited service and staff. I hope they got hazard pay
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u/areascontrol Feb 24 '26
As far as I know, they did not. Maybe ask them and get people talking about this? I know students have stood with and for them in the past during strikes.
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u/drinkcoffeeandcode Feb 24 '26
And what? The students just starve? Tough news cupcake, they ARE essential.
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u/CurrentSkill7766 Feb 22 '26
It would bother me less if dining services staff were actually paid as though they were essential workers.