‘They're treating people poorly’: AMS Food and Beverage employees seek unionization over poor pay, lack of accountability

Citing a need for qualified HR mediation and better pay, members of the AMS Food and Beverage Department have filed to unionize every employee in the department. If successful, the employees would join MoveUP, a union which already represents some of the AMS’s administrative staff.

The Ubyssey interviewed two employees from the Food and Beverage Department who detailed the employees’ collective reasons for seeking unionization and the process’s progression — both of the sources’ names have been changed in accordance with The Ubyssey’s anonymity policy to protect their identities against potential employer retaliation.

A lack of AMS accountability

In her interview, AMS employee Jane said employees hope unionization will address what she called a lack of AMS accountability in resolving issues brought forward by workers in the department.

“There are lots of instances of … personnel conflicts, including with management, that have not been appropriately resolved by HR and have resulted in really negative consequences and working environments for a lot of people,” she said.

“[Because of these] instances of workplace bullying … staff are looking for someone else to be in our corner.”

In a statement to The Ubyssey, the AMS wrote it "is unaware of any unresolved personnel conflicts."

Jane also claimed members of the AMS’s administration office have tended to “fail upwards” in their positions, which she called “very discouraging.”

A group of AMS servers had attempted to join MoveUP back in 2016, but the BC Labour Relations Board dismissed the application in the AMS’s favour. In June of that year, the Board found the AMS engaged in unfair labour practices after Christine Boutrin, a then-manager in the AMS’s Catering & Conferences Department, texted an employee to vote against unionization. The Board also ruled it likely that Boutrin paid two employees to incentivize other employees to vote against unionizing.

According to Jane, Christine Boutrin now goes by Christine Halonen — the AMS’s senior manager of Catering & Conferences.

The Ubyssey asked the AMS if it could confirm Jane's claim, but its statement contained no mention of Boutrin or Halonen. As such, The Ubyssey was unable to independently verify Jane’s claim that Boutrin is now Halonen.

Poor pay for performance

Jane said AMS employees are also seeking unionization to help bargain for higher wages, and she cited the AMS’s lack of competitive pay as a problematic contributor to an already high turnover rate of qualified employees.

John, another AMS employee, told The Ubyssey the AMS’s raise schedule is outdated and poorly organized. He said some outlets cap workers at a maximum wage of $1.50 more than their starting wage, but since AMS outlets employ many part-time student workers, he noted this cap isn’t always an issue.

John also said when BC's minimum wage increased in June 2024, employees in the lowest position at one outlet received a pay increase while the supervisors didn’t — a difference which made many supervisors feel that the AMS undervalued their work.

“We make the AMS a substantial amount of money and many workers make just above minimum wage — despite AMS claims that they offer competitive wages,” John said.

For the past few years, the AMS has run in a deficit.

John alleged the AMS told food and beverage employees this deficit was the reason it hadn’t updated its raise system.

“Many of us find [that] a bit funny, because the outlets that we work for are not in a deficit,” John said.

According to the AMS’s 2024/25 Second Quarter Financial Report, John’s statement is not true of all food and beverage outlets — both The Pit and Grand Noodle Emporium are financially underperforming. However, outlets like The Gallery and Blue Chip Cafe have exceeded financial expectations, and Catering & Conferences has earned $431,922 above their projected earnings of $520,473.

The AMS’s 2024/25 budget also projected a surplus, and The Ubyssey asked the AMS if it plans to change its raise system in light of its new financial position. The AMS did not respond to this question in its issued statement.

John also added that some of his colleagues have had issues with their pay or raises getting dismissed or ignored by higher management within the AMS, and said unionizing would allow for a smoother problem-solving process.

Process pushback

The Ubyssey also interviewed MoveUP representative Javed Saheb, who spoke to some of the more granular details of the ongoing unionization process.

According to the BC Labour Relations Board, a union must obtain a specific level of employee support to get certified as the employees’ exclusive bargaining agent. Applying with the support of 55 per cent or more of the employees in the proposed unit allows the Board to bypass holding a representation vote, and, barring any objections, immediately issue certification.

Unionization certification allows unions like MoveUP to advocate on the behalf of previously unrepresented employees, an option which Saheb said can help employees less fearfully negotiate working conditions.

“I hope a lot of students and workers become [more] aware that one day you’re going to be in the workforce, and that there is a way you should be treated,” he said.

Unlike unionization efforts in 2016, Saheb said employee support has surpassed the Board’s 55 per cent approval threshold. Immediate certification hasn’t been issued, however, because the AMS as an employer is arguing that the food and beverage employees should be in a separate bargaining unit from currently unionized office employees.

MoveUP (formerly known as COPE 378) has represented "office and clerical employees" of the AMS since around 1971. According to Saheb, employees have two options when they apply for certification:

Option 1: Employees can file a section 18 application for a brand new collective agreement which gets legally negotiated between the employees and employer once employees become union members.
Option 2: Employees can file a section 142 application to join an existing contract between other employees and their collective employer.

Saheb said MoveUP has chosen option 2 in an attempt to add the 200-odd food and beverage employees (a number the AMS did not confirm to The Ubyssey) to the already-established bargaining unit of AMS office employees.

The AMS told The Ubyssey that it is not opposed to the unionization, but believes the food and beverage employees should instead have filed for option 1.

"The core issue currently before the Board is not about whether or not unionization is the right decision, but about whether or not the food and beverage department has the same interests as the office department," the AMS statement reads. "[The] AMS believes that the two groups have different working environments and different interests and therefore should bargain and be dealt with separately."

Saheb said filing to join an existing bargaining unit has many benefits, one being the agreement which exists has already been negotiated multiple times.

“[Because of] instances of workplace bullying … staff are looking for someone else to be in our corner.”

— Jane, food and beverage employee

Saheb also said joining an existing unit helps employees form “a united front within the same employer,” so that the employer can’t negotiate separate terms for its employees.

“The union does not [think employers] … should be segregating workers in that way,” Saheb said.

Filing for a separate bargaining unit would also mean food and beverage employees would have to negotiate their contract from scratch, a process which could take at least a calendar year.

“We are very cognizant of the fact these workers need representation faster,” Saheb said. “These workers have been mistreated for a really long time, and I’m not going to [mince] my words on that. I think it’s been unfair.”

Saheb also helped represent student employees at Capilano University and BCIT's student society in their recent efforts to unionize.

Saheb said dealing with the AMS as an employer, particularly in comparison to his experience with BCIT, has proved “more difficult” because “the AMS is well aware of unions and how they operate.”

Concern over AMS Council transparency

At AMS Council on January 15, student-at-large Safiya Sukkarie asked what the AMS’s position was regarding workers exercising their freedom of association rights, including their right to organize and engage with labour unions.

Sukkarie asks what the AMS's position is regarding workers exercising their freedom of association rights, including their right to organize and engage with labour unions.
— Ubyssey News (@UbysseyNews) January 16, 2025

“The legal advice, as I understand it, is that, as an employer, we’re not supposed to comment at all,” said AMS President Christian ‘CK’ Kyle, who then deferred the question to AMS Managing Director Justin Lieu.

Lieu has worked at UBC for over seven years. As the AMS’s managing director, he oversees the AMS’s Food and Beverage, HR and Catering & Conferences departments.

Lieu told Council the AMS is cooperating with the Labour Board and with the union, and that the AMS will be able to “speak more freely” once it has gone “through the steps and the motions.”

In her interview with The Ubyssey, Jane said she found both responses “very disconcerting,” and that while legal counsel might advise silence, no part of the Labour Board process prevented either party from providing a response to Sukkarie’s question.

Jane also expressed concern that neither CK nor Lieu mentioned the employees’ unionization efforts in their reports to Council.

“That is very odd to me because both of those people have a fiduciary duty to the Alma Mater Society,” said Jane.

Jane's statement is partially true: all voting members of Council (like CK and other elected student representatives) have a fiduciary duty to the organization and its constituents. As a non-voting member, Lieu does not have the same fiduciary duty.

The Ubyssey also asked the AMS why neither CK nor Lieu included the food and beverage employees’ ongoing attempt to unionize in their reports to Council. The AMS did not address this question in its provided response.

Referring to all AMS administration and her thoughts on the situation as a whole, Jane expressed frustration.

“They’re treating people poorly, and I don’t think they should be allowed to do that.”

— With files from Ishan Choudhury

This article was updated on February 7 at 10:51 a.m. to reflect that MoveUP representative Javed Saheb helped represent student employees at Capilano University in their recent efforts to unionize. A previous version of the article read that Saheb helped represent Capilano University Student Society. The Ubyssey regrets this error.

First online Feb. 6, 2025, 11:16 a.m.