Contract food service and hotel workers to keep current pay until May 31

<p>The Brodhead Center.</p>

The Brodhead Center.

Hotel employees and full-time food service workers, not just Duke faculty and staff, will keep their current pay for the time being.

Contract workers who currently have jobs in Duke University dining facilities, Washington Duke Inn and J.B. Duke Hotel are set to keep their salaries until May 31. These workers aren't paid directly by Duke, but work at the University. Duke will provide financial assistance to make sure that commitment is met if the workers' employers are unable to pay and the workers aren't "covered by pending state and federal government programs," Executive Vice President Tallman Trask announced in an email to the Duke community Wednesday evening.

However, Trask noted that it may become necessary for Duke employees and contract workers' job responsibilities to change depending on Duke's needs. He did not provide any details on what that would entail at this time.

"In the meantime, please know how grateful we are for your service during this extraordinary time," Trask wrote. "Our university and our community are better for it."

Previously, Duke had only publicly ensured that the pay of faculty and staff would be maintained no matter their schedule or location, while on-campus dining and other services would remain open with limited hours.

A list of demands from Duke Contract Workers United was published in The Chronicle March 17. The workers demanded clear information from Duke to meet its obligations, guaranteed wages until regular operations are resumed and automatic reinstatement to their positions once operations resume.


Stefanie Pousoulides profile
Stefanie Pousoulides | Investigations Editor

Stefanie Pousoulides is The Chronicle's Investigations Editor. A senior from Akron, Ohio, Stefanie is double majoring in political science and international comparative studies and serves as a Senior Editor of The Muse Magazine, Duke's feminist magazine. She is also a former co-Editor-in-Chief of The Muse Magazine and a former reporting intern at PolitiFact in Washington, D.C.

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