As staff dedicated to ensuring students a good quality of life at Yale, we were concerned but not surprised to read the YDN’s coverage of the problems in the dining halls (“Yale Dining changes meal services,” Sept. 1). Since we learned of management’s plans to close Commons for dinner over the summer, we and our co-workers have repeatedly expressed our concerns that this would cause over-crowding in the other dining halls. Hundreds of Local 34 and Local 35 members working in Yale College and the dining halls signed petitions asking for a dialogue with management about these changes.

A lot of investment and hard work has gone into improving Yale Dining over the past few years by returning to preparation of fresh, locally-grown and healthy food. It would be a shame for these efforts to be undermined by short-sighted cost cutting. We work hard every day for our students. We need management to work with us to provide the best services possible.

Jean Smith

The writer is the senior administrative assistant for Ezra Stiles Dean’s Office.

Tyisha Walker

The writer is the cooks helper for Commons.

As a 26-year employee and leader in Dining Services, I’ve seen lots of changes and improvements (“Yale Dining changes meal service,” Sept. 1). I’ve already seen Commons close once, only to re-open because it is essential to campus life, both as a social institution and for its capacity to feed students. Just as we thought would happen, we now have overcrowding, and the dining experience that we’ve worked hard to create is being reformed into “Grab and Go.” We understand that the Department runs these services as they see fit, but management should not forget their promise to engage in Best Practices with union members who do the work when they make those decisions.

As for Science Hill, the opening of the KBT café is a long time in coming, as food has always been hard to find in that area. The café is great, but fresh roasted coffee beans do not replace a hot meal. Coffee is nice, but a real meal is what the students pay for and what they deserve.

Nicole Roseboro

The writer is the first cook of Trumbull College.