Noela Moris may be deaf, and he may be blind in one eye, but there's nothing wrong with his sense of smell. He lost his job a while ago. He thinks it was snatched away from him. He thinks it smells fishy.

Noela lives in the east end of the city with his mother. They share a subsidized apartment. We spoke the other day, with the help of a sign language interpreter. I put my questions to Noela, he read the interpreter's signs, and the interpreter relayed his replies to me.

It was fun, actually.

Here's the background:

Noela and his mother are from Bombay. Noela, who is 40 years old, was deaf at birth and he wasn't expected to live. His mother devoted herself to making him healthy. She worked a miracle.

They arrived here in 1997. Noela said, "I felt a bit strange at first. The sign language is a bit different. It took awhile to get used to it. But I went to school and I learned."

And when he finished learning, he began to look for work. He sent out his resumé with the help of the Canadian Hearing Society and he got a job right away, in the kitchen of the Ontario Science Centre.

His employer is Aramark, the giant American food services corporation hired to run the Science Centre's kitchen and cafeteria. Aramark was paying Noela $8.20 an hour. The way his shifts were scheduled, he was earning roughly $12,000 a year.

He said, "I was washing up, doing dishes, a little bit of cooking, chopping vegetables, helping others, mopping the floors. My supervisor taught me what to do."

He worked at the Science Centre for seven years. There were no complaints about his performance; the opposite was true. And the job was important to him, as was his modest paycheque, because his mother is unable to work and she isn't yet drawing a pension.

Okay, he's deaf, how did he get the job done?

"I would ask people to write things down. My former supervisor would write things down every time. He was very good. Other people, some of them were also very good."

Not everyone was good?

"People are people."

So what happened?

"One day last October I was very busy. There was a lot of work to do. I was cleaning. I was the only one. I asked for help. One of my fellow workers said he was busy. Someone else tapped me on the shoulder and said I needed to do this other cleaning. I said I needed help, but I was told to go help this other person, so I did.

"When I finished, another man said there was a big pot and I should move it. I said why don't you move it. Finally, I went to do it. It was a big pot. I asked if he could help me. He said a bad word."

Noela reads lips.

"I wasn't angry. I was shocked. He used gesture and speech."

Noela told one of the other employees what happened. He was told to get back to work.

It was late in the day. He asked if he could have a soda. He was told he could. Noela had his soda and he finished up and signed out — he'd put in an hour's unpaid overtime — and that was when he noticed that his name had been crossed off the next week's schedule.

He went to work the next week anyway, and was confronted and accused of breaking some glass and leaving it on the floor of a cooler.

"I didn't break anything, but I went to clean it up. Then I found out two people were going to write a complaint against me. I saw them writing things down."

In addition to the business of the broken glass, he was accused of grabbing and punching another employee. "I swear as God is my witness, I didn't."

He was dismissed.

The dismissal has been grieved. And Noela has attended at least one meeting about the dismissal at which no sign-language interpreter was available. I wonder what the framers of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms might say about that.

In addition to fighting the dismissal, Noela is seeking reinstatement and lost wages. He has cited, in correspondence with his shop steward, several instances when he has endured harassment on the job by some of the other employees. In addition to being sworn at, he claims he has been spat upon and pushed around.

He also has in his possession a curious note, given to him by a fellow employee just as this whole mess was beginning to brew. The note reads: "You don't talk to them at all you and me to fight to get you in trouble to fire you."

I think that smells fishy, too.

Aramark recently agreed to an arbitrator. The case will be heard March 25. The matter will be resolved one way or the other. Here's what I don't get:

Nothing sours all of a sudden. When co-workers are having problems, you sit them down and you talk things through. If matters fester, you tell the workers they have a job to do, and part of that job involves getting along. It isn't science. It is the art of management.

I called Aramark's Toronto office to hear the company's side of the story. I was referred to head office in Philadelphia. A spokesman there declined comment.

Joe Fiorito usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: jfiorito@thestar.ca

On Wed., Feb. 14, Yale Dining Services' (YDS) top chefs came out against Aramark, manager of Yale's dining halls, blaming the company for what they claim to be a severe decrease in food quality. The Herald talked to three YDS chefs: Mike Schoen, first chef at Berkeley, as well as two other chefs, Vincent* and Jonathan*.

Yale Herald: What are some changes that you have noticed under Aramark?

Mike Schoen: [Aramark] came in the fall of 1998, and we noticed some changes right away. They had certain items taken off the menu. We used to have tenderloin steaks, but they saw that everyone was taking two or three of them, so they said, "Okay, we have to get rid of that." Or they would put out grilled cheese with the steak so maybe [students would] take one of each, things of that nature. In Commons, they started ["Eli Classics"] where they would have, on any given night, pizza, pasta, or burgers, to take pressure off the more expensive items.

Vincent: All the higher cost items are gone. I mean, how many times a week can you eat pizza? French bread pizza one day, Mediterranean focaccia the next. It's always pizza, pasta, and mashed potatoes. They're loading you up on starches.

MS: You know, Aramark has even started writing up employees for having a little bit of food left over after a meal. Usually when we have some cans of food left over, we'll utilize it later or send it out as leftovers. But Aramark has said they're going to write up the managers and the employees for having any food left over. It's discipline.

YH: Can you give some specific examples of Aramark's cost-cutting procedures?

Jonathan: I remember one night when there was beef stew on the menu, and one of the Aramark representatives came in to the dining hall and criticized the way the line was set up. He said: "We want the rice to come before the beef stew," so that we served the beef stew over the rice, to build it up and make it look like more food. They're nit-picking. That's why they push the starches—the rice and the potatoes.

V: Sysco (the food vender used by Aramark) has an "A" list and a "B" list, with higher quality products in the "A" list. We don't get the "A" list. We're tired of cooking this garbage. Yale is renovating these buildings, spending millions and millions of dollars putting beautiful equipment in, and what are we doing? We're cooking pasta every night.

YH: Is Aramark doing something wrong if it can't sustain a profit and deliver a quality product?

MS: To my understanding, the dining halls have always run a deficit. The problem is that they ran over the expected deficit. The bottom line is that we don't believe that, for the amount of money students pay for their meal plans, they're getting their dollar's worth. Additionally, we're worried about job security. What does it take to put a pan of rice in a steamer? What do they need all of us cooks for, if they're going to constantly get all vendor [pre-made] items?

J: Aramark realizes that once they can't [cut costs] with food, they're going to start cutting labor. That's why they've been bringing in vendor products, to eliminate people's jobs. They're sending us stuff like pre-made mozarella sticks. The other week I tasted them, they were salty and gross, like the kind of stuff you'd get at a snack bar in a bowling alley. It shouldn't be. We have the people. We have the skills. Let us do our job. If you don't buy quality stuff, then it doesn't matter how well you can cook. If they're giving us pre-packaged shit, what can we do?

YH: Has Aramark's reliance on large-scale vendors like Sysco hurt local New Haven businesses who used to supply you?

MS: We used to get our produce from the Long Wharf and pasta from local factories— really fresh stuff. They would literally wheel it down onto our trucks. You still get some cheaper items from better local brands. But I heard the managers are going to try to stop getting anything from local brands, just items that they somehow can't get from Sysco.

YH: Are your problems with Aramark going to be an issue of contention when you re-negotiate your labor contract in 2002?

MS: Our union president, Bob Proto, has already told Aramark that we're not going to negotiate with them. We're going to negotiate with Yale. Aramark is not our employer.

V: It's all about money. The union's position is that Yale has more than enough money, there is no crisis, its endowment brings in $7 million a day, it can afford to have quality food.

YH: Any suggestions for what students can do?

MS: The outcry has to come from the students and their parents, because they are the ones who aren't getting their money's worth. The freshmen who have come this year, they don't know anything different. But people who have been here longer, juniors and seniors, they've seen what has happened. The word has to be put out that this wasn't the way it always was.

V: I want the students to be aware of what's going on. I heard a rumor—I'm not sure how true it is—that the menu after spring break is going to be even worse than it already is. I think the students need to put up a fight for this. It's your food, and it's your money that's paying for it.

* Names have been changed to protect anonymity.

Dear Arthur,

When I got back to res from class yesterday a good friend of mine came jubilantly hopping into my room and told me to look at the front page of The Arthur. To my surprise I found our posters were featured on your front page. Sadly Arthur, you’re a few months late. The posters have been all over Champlain since mid-December, but I am quite pleased you picked up the story now, so I can have a chance to explain them to all of Trent.

What does “Aramark Doesn’t Care” mean? I will give you a history of how the slogan and the signs came about. Ever since arriving at Trent this September as a first year student, I can say that the only thing I could complain about at Trent is the food services. And I am not the only one. Aramark-bashing seems to be a mainstay of conversation across campus. Of course, every res student forced into the meal plan has a huge beef with the high prices and low quality, low nutrition food, but my story is a little more personal.

I have a very serious allergy to seafood. If I come into contact with it (even very trace amounts), my throat and face will swell up and I could die in a matter of minutes. I carry an Epipen everywhere, but even those do not always work, and there is a high chance I might not get to a hospital in time. They will keep my airways open for only somewhere between 15-20 minutes. Unless you have an allergy like this, or know someone close to you that does, most people do not understand how frightening it can be or how paranoia can engulf you about everything you eat and touch.

I spoke to First Response about this, and they confirmed that an ambulance might not get here in time. They also do not currently have permission to carry Epipens. This can be changed with enough public support. I am in the process of writing a letter to them now in an attempt to get permission for them to carry a medication that could save my life, or the life of someone else.

One of the factors I had to consider when choosing a university was whether or not the food services could cater to my needs. After several long conversations over the phone with Aramark at Trent, they assured me that they could accommodate any allergy. By “we can accommodate any allergy” I assumed it meant that they would take extensive precautionary measures to ensure my safety, and the safety of the dozens of other Trent students that could face serious health problems or death as a result of food allergies. Richard Brown, the assistant food service director at Trent, assured me that they do everything they can to prevent cross-contamination. So I put my life in their hands and trusted them.

In mid-December I was waiting in line to get a stir-fry at the OC cafeteria. As I scanned the food preparation area as I always do (I have to be very paranoid) I noticed there was a choice of seafood for the day, and that the lady preparing the food was using the same tongs on all the vegetables, meat and seafood. Had I not noticed, or had the food been prepared somewhere I could not see it, there is a high chance I would have died before my first set of university exams.

“Despite all of this, Aramark still doesn’t seem to care. The whole fiasco seems in the pasts, but I will not forget it, and neither will the people that care about me.”

Naturally, I was appalled and terrified. I left immediately, almost in tears. I called Richard Brown, my good friend at Aramark, and reported what I had seen. I made it very clear to him that I did not want the lady who prepared the food to be punished because I did not feel it was her fault, but rather the fault of how Aramark is operated in general. I learned that it was the lady’s first day on the job, but I wondered why she had not been properly taught about the seriousness of contamination issues and why she was left to manage a food preparation station all on her own.

Some people have expressed concern that the posters were intended at the staff as well as the company. I’m going to make it VERY clear. This campaign was in no way directed at the Aramark staff. We love you guys – you bend over backwards to cater to our needs; it is the management of Aramark we have a problem with.

Mr. Brown said he would “investigate” and get back to me. Two days later he called me back and told me that he had, in fact, “investigated” and reprimanded the staff member for her carelessness and that he would review contamination issues with staff. That was not what I was expecting to hear. He simply put all the blame on a woman that had hardly worked one shift, what I specifically asked him NOT to do. His attitude was appalling and patronizing and he did not seem to take the situation very seriously. With my life in his company’s hands, I found the response inadequate.

It was time for action. I spread the news to my dear friends, and they too were shocked and appalled. I also talked to other people I know with similar potentially fatal allergies. That night in res the slogan was born and a sign was designed. The next morning we photocopied it and began to distribute it. With my dear friends, who care greatly about my safety and the safety of others with similar issues, we began to tell the story around res and people took up the cause and signs began to appear in res windows. We did not think the signs would really change much, but it was an outlet for outrage and the only thing we felt we could really do at the time.

The posers themselves did not really do much, except draw attention to the issue. My college Don Casey also took notice. I talked to him about it and he set up a meeting with Aramark’s Richard Brown to find a solution to this problem. Though I know that Aramark can only do so much to prevent cross-contamination and they cannot be entirely responsible for human error, I still felt that they did not take the situation nearly seriously enough. Nor do I harbor any anger or animosity towards Mr. Brown. He is only doing his job and I understand that unless you are faced with allergies of this sort, or love someone that is, it can be very hard to understand how terrifying these things can be.

To add to it all I did actually get a serious reaction to some kind of contamination during exams, but thankfully I hopped myself up on enough prescription allergy meds so I could still sit my exams. I had to wear a scarf around my neck for nearly a month as it was swollen nearly three inches out, red and extremely itchy. There is a permanent scar on my neck now as a result of this reaction (which embarrassingly looks like a hicky).

Despite all of this, Aramark still doesn’t seem to care. The whole fiasco seems in the pasts, but I will not forget it, and neither will the people that care about me. So thank you Arthur for taking notice. Perhaps now that more attention is drawn to the issue something can be done.

As a result of the meeting with Casey the Champlain College Don and Richard Brown we decided to put together a group for students with allergies or other food issues to meet with Trent housing services and Aramark to brainstorm to make suggestions for change. If you would like to get involved, email me at erinneate@trentu.ca. The meetings will be starting after reading week.

Also, First Response needs support to have permission to carry and administer Epipens. If you would like to offer your support, you can write them a letter.

Thanks again Arthur.

Best regards,

Erin Neate and the Postering Crew