Eight employees fight to secure jobs at AUC
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Youssef Abdelaal/CARAVAN STAFF EIGHT WORKERS: Ahmed Hussein (L) and Sabry Mohamed (R) prepare sandwiches for students |
Eight workers who were at risk of losing their jobs at the American University in Cairo (AUC) after the move to the new campus in Kattameya have been promised a place and a salary at the new campus.
The employees, who are caterers and chefs at the university, began working at AUC as teenagers and continued to work without contract through the 1980s. In 1991, they signed contracts with United Enterprises Company, an external food service provider that took over AUC’s food services.
Upon learning that the company has no place in the new campus—where food services have been divided up among several chains including Cinnabon, Cilantro, and Americana Group—the eight became worried that their source of livelihood had been cut off.
“We know that it’s not the company’s fault, but we’ve given our lives to AUC and feel we are owed a place in the new campus,” said Mohamed Hafez, a chef in the Jameel Cafeteria and one of the eight.
According to Ismail El Shazly, director of facilities and services at AUC, the caterers will remain with United Enterprises until August 2009, while it remains at the downtown campus, serving students and staff of the School of Continuing Education (SCE).
“There is a slight problem with putting them on the AUC payroll because they don’t have high school diplomas, but we will spend the next year trying to find them a job that fits their qualifications,” he said.
Mushira El Bardai, executive director of human
resources, was also approached by the Caravan, but refused to comment. The Caravan learned, however, that El Bardai was behind the calls made that re-secured the caterers’ jobs.
El Bardai reportedly contacted Nabil Fikry, operations manager of United Enterprises. “We would never leave our employees without financial security, even if there was no work,” said Fikry. “But I think it’s true that these people are better off as AUC employees, and [given] how long they’ve worked here, I also think it’s their right.”
“There are limitations on what can reasonably be expected to be ‘responsibilities’ placed upon the university; first and foremost those responsibilities relate to AUC employees,” said Paul Donoghue, vice president for planning and administration. “While I understand their concerns, their issue is with their employer, United Enterprises, and not with AUC.”
The workers’ insistence on staying with AUC is partly because of the benefits, such as medical insurance, that AUC employees have. Hafez is a father of two and “prays [his] children never fall sick” because his LE 800 salary could never cover the cost of doctor visits and medication.
“As United Enterprises employees, we are not allowed to set foot inside the AUC clinic,” said Hany Shehata, currently a party caterer on campus. Shehata, 31, says he served in the late AUC President John Gerhart’s home when he was younger and thinks it is unfair that he is not considered part of the university.
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