Pandemic restrictions impact student employees of the MSU

Two weeks before the McMaster Students Union closed the Grind Café for the rest of 2020, employees were unaware of the impending closure.

Located in the McMaster University Student Centre, The Grind had been operating on a reduced schedule and with reduced staff due to COVID-19 restrictions and the resulting lack of population on campus. In an email statement on Oct. 30, MSU Vice-President (Finance) Jess Anderson cited low foot traffic on campus and low usage at the Grind as the reason for the closure.

“During this time of transition, the MSU is committed to providing financial assistance to affected staff members, above and beyond the minimum standards defined by the Employment Standards Act. In addition, the MSU has provided guidance to staff in understanding and accessing available government programs related to COVID-19 support,” wrote Anderson.

However, it is unclear what the financial assistance entails.

Micaela Rayment, a full-time student and two-year Grind employee, had been working once per week at the Grind. Rayment, along with other employees, was working three hours per week.

Rayment began work as a teaching assistant at McMaster this semester and cited her reduction in Grind hours as the reason for an additional job.

“I had more hours last year, so I didn't have to have two jobs, right?” Rayment said, 

The teaching assistant position is only for the fall term and Rayment said that she’ll have to find another job for the winter term.

“I think it'll probably be difficult. Especially since I'm in my final year and so I'll be entering into a job, only to leave it after graduating [and getting] into a job in my field. I won't be able to be too picky, but I know people who are trying to look for jobs right now and they're just not hearing anything back from anyone. So I don't know, not excited for that, if that's what has to happen,” added Rayment.

On Oct. 19, Rayment discussed her reduced hours but was unaware that the Grind would soon close. Rayment said that her supervisors had been upfront about reducing hours and had not heard anything about the Grind closing.

An employee of the Grind and TwelvEighty Bar & Grill, who requested anonymity due to conerns over job security, said on Oct. 19 that they believed the Grind would be closing shortly. Though they could not confirm with certainty, they said that they were led to believe that the MSU was looking to either further cut down or completely close the Grind café.

On Oct. 28, both Micaela and the source confirmed that the Grind would be closing on Nov. 2 indefinitely.

 

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The MSU has responded to pandemic restrictions and has created savings across the organization for students. The MSU organizational fee has been reduced, as well as a reduction in paid student employees. 

Debbie Good, full-time manager of Compass Information Centre, explained that Compass normally employs 11 students in part-time positions during the year. Compass has been closed since the pandemic began and has been unable to re-employ any of the 11 students.

By: Neda Pirouzmand

With just over a year since its introduction in February 2018, The Grind is in the process of expanding to accommodate up to 125 people.

Vice president (Finance) Alexandrea Johnston credits an engineering management 5B03 capstone project for the idea to increase The Grind’s capacity. Two McMaster engineering students led this project in direct partnership with the then vice president (Finance), Scott Robinson. They studied how busy The Grind is, what people were purchasing and the feasibility of an expansion. After synthesizing their research they found that 65 per cent of the time, The Grind operates at full capacity.

Upon consulting other student unions and contractors to estimate projected costs, the capstone proposal for expanding The Grind was submitted to the Student Representative Assembly and Executive Board.

Since receiving their approval, the proposal has progressed to the quote-allocation stage, which must be completed before any money can be spent. Johnston and her team hope to have the quote-allocation stage completed by July so that construction may begin as soon as possible.

“Currently, The Grind has 45 seats. The first phase of the proposed expansion will be able to accommodate approximately 40 more seats,” Johnston said. “After this first phase, there are plans to add additional seats in December. This would bring about another 40 seats, bringing the total seating capacity up to 125.”

The proposed floor plan involves extending The Grind into what has been TwelvEighty’s event space. However, the design plans are meant to be executed such that the extension of The Grind may still be used for events.

Along with these changes, Johnston revealed the possibility of adding various bagel melts onto The Grind’s menu this year. There are no current plans to expand the kitchen or the staff.

The proposed Grind expansion poses an opportunity to offset TwelvEighty’s budget deficit. “While both establishments share the same budget, The Grind operates with a 61 per cent profit margin,” said Johnston.

Johnston added that detailed financial statements comparing The Grind and TwelveEighty will be available in the fall on the McMaster Students Union website. This will be through the release of the 2018-2019 audit, a process that occurs every year to assess the financial status of the MSU.

While the audited statements from 2017-2018 do not include financial information on The Grind, they reveal that TwelveEighty ended the year at a deficit of $275 842 based on May 1 2017 to Apr. 30, 2018 data. This is drastically higher than TwelveEighty’s budget deficit of $178 050 from the previous year. A 48 per cent reduction in beer and liquor sales accounts for a large portion of the budget imbalance.

It is too soon to accurately estimate the impact of The Grind expansion. If the expansion is fully completed and The Grind continues to succeed, then this will be very telling as to the power of molding university establishments to suit changing student interests.

The Grind, the McMaster Students Union-run cafe that was added to TwelvEighty in February 2018, has been churning out more cash than its bar and grill counterpart.

According to a report written by Daniel “Tuba” D’Souza, MSU vice president (Finance), to the Student Representative Assembly, the Grind has been earning an average of $1,000 per day. The cafe is expected to increase TwelvEighty’s revenue by 22 per cent and reduce the overall deficit by approximately $100,000 for the upcoming academic year.

“The success of the Grind shows that the student demographic is changing. For the first time in MSU history we will have sold more coffee than alcohol,” read part of the report. “This is something that needs to be seriously considered when looking at the future of TwelvEighty.”

According to D’Souza, universities and colleges across North America have witnessed a similar trend as pubs and bars languish in popularity.

“Today’s students are burdened with debt and are selective of how they spend their money, prioritizing experiences and quality over quantity,” said D’Souza, who believes that campus club culture is not dying, but transforming as students become more conscientious of how and when they spend money on alcohol.

“For the first time in MSU history we will have sold more coffee than alcohol.”

 

Daniel “Tuba” D’Souza
Vice president (Finance)
McMaster Students Union

D’Souza notes that events such as Homecoming, Light Up The Night and club nights continue to reach maximum capacity, reflecting a continued interest in club culture.

“That volume isn’t replicable throughout the year. From conversations with club promotion companies and past bar owners in the area, students are busy and prioritize school over entertainment more than in past years,” he said.

The Grind’s financial success is also a byproduct of the increasing use of coffee shops as study spaces. In light of the high demand for seating at the Grind, D’Souza has proposed the allocation of funds to renovate the dance floor and staging area of TwelvEighty to expand the cafe.

The proposal still has to be approved by the incoming Student Representative Assembly, and the nuances of it will depend on the plans of next year’s leadership and TwelvEighty’s management.

“TwelvEighty is currently our biggest cost centre but will show marked improvements with the addition of the Grind,” read part of the report.

In his report, D’Souza suggests that TwelvEighty should focus on improving its serving style, menu options, use of technology, ease of ordering and marketing strategy. However, in the report, he does not elaborate on what he means by these areas of improvement.

In his year-plan, D’Souza sought to implement an online ordering system for TwelvEighty. Nevertheless, this promise was abandoned as feasibility and logistical issues emerged in the fall of 2017. Whether or not D’Souza seeks to reintroduce this proposal remains unclear.

What is clear, however, is that the Grind is expected to compensate, at least in part, for TwelvEighty’s lack of profit.

During the cafe’s trial period, which occurred before the Grind officially opened for service, feedback forms were released to students. The main demands were for milk substitutes, which are now available at no cost, and increased seating capacity.

“Currently students love the food options, fresh baked scones and cookies, and the daily crepe specials,” said D’Souza. “With its booming success this year the future of the Grind looks bright with students already asking to expand the space more into TwelvEighty.”

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