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Four of eight students working at the southwestern-style chicken wing venue tendered a letter of resignation to managers of Sodexho, the University's food-service provider. When the undergraduates began their employment at the start of the semester, they signed up to be servers at a full-service restaurant that would have tips.
After repeated delays in having table service, the four decided it was not worth working there, with an hourly wage of $7.50 without gratuities.
Sophomore Allan Johnson, one of the four students who quit Monday, said he was tired with managers' "excuses and broken promises" about the terms of his job. The sophomore was made a floor manager in charge of scheduling for all the student-employees.
"We felt that Sodexho did not fulfill their end of the bargain when we were hired ... I worked there for six weeks and we were repeatedly told we were going to be made full service, and that never materialized," Johnson said.
WOW was originally slated to open at the end of August 2006, but faced numerous delays because of permit and construction setbacks. The food venue was supposed to have full table service when it opened Jan. 17, but had staffing challenges as well.
By late February, the wingery was due to have waiters and waitresses, GW administrator Nancy Haaga said in late January. She said the wait-times, which typically ranged from 15 to 30 minutes, would decrease with time.
"The WOW staff is working hard to get fully up to speed in all aspects of the new WOW, and speed of service is expected to improve as the staff become more familiar with the operation and master the 'learning curve,'" said Haaga, managing director of Campus Support Services.
Haaga said Tuesday that she had not heard about the group resignation, and she did not return several phone calls from The Hatchet Wednesday.
Sam Ramos, director of operations of Dining Services and a Sodexho manager, said he does not expect WOW to go full service until next school year. He said Sodexho is waiting on a liquor license before the food venue will have servers.
D.C. officials and the University have said that approval may not come before May. Regardless, with WOW closing for the summer because fewer students will be on campus, Ramos said it would make sense to begin table service in the fall.
