‘It’s ridiculous and it’s dismissive’: Phipps Conservatory food service workers face unclear future after change in contractor 

Growing up in Pittsburgh, Jason McCray remembers looking forward to going to Phipps Conservatory every year with his family to see the impressive plant arrangements and the massive model train display. 

So he said he was excited when he got a job as a server, cashier and barista at Phipps last spring through the conservatory’s food service vendor, Sodexo Live!. 

“When I got hired, it was a place that I was honestly hoping to be at for a while,” McCray said in a phone interview Thursday. 

It’s unclear if that can happen now, though, after Sodexo’s contract with Phipps was not renewed, leaving the employment future of McCray and about 30 of his co-workers in question. The workers held a rally at 1 p.m. Friday in frigid weather outside the conservatory to bring attention to their situation and deliver a petition to Phipps management requesting the opportunity to keep their jobs.

The contingent of workers who went inside to bring the petition to Phipps management returned disappointed after they were not able to speak to anyone with significant authority. They said a Phipps staff member told them she would take the petition to management, but because it was a Friday, no one else was around to discuss the matter. 

“We depend on a five-day work week at the very least, and these people get to have their Fridays off and watch this from the comfort of their own home — watch us struggle and look for jobs after this and they don’t care,” said Sarah LaFiura, a Cafe Phipps cashier. “But they’ll smile in our face and say, ‘That’s great. I’ll tell our HR department that you want to keep your jobs.’ We know it won’t go anywhere, and it’s ridiculous and it’s dismissive.”

Sunday would be the last day for any of the conservatory’s Sodexo employees, which include cooks, dishwashers, janitors and event staff in addition to servers, baristas and cashiers who work at Cafe Phipps. Many of them have already worked their final scheduled shifts. 

The workers said they received an email from Sodexo in October saying that Phipps was going to put its food service contract up for bid, but that they had nothing to worry about as the conservatory would renew its contract. About a month later, however, they were told that Sodexo would not make an offer to renew the contract, putting the future of their employment at Phipps in doubt. 

Since then, the workers said they tried to get answers from Sodexo and Phipps management — including holding a rally attended by Mayor Ed Gainey in mid-December — but they have been ignored.

Neither Sodexo Live! nor Phipps Conservatory responded to requests for comment for this story.  

Meredith Raubaugh, a catering server and cafe cashier at Phipps, said the lack of communication from both Sodexo and Phipps management has been perhaps the most frustrating part of the ordeal.  

“Technically, we don’t work for Phipps, so I guess I shouldn’t have expected too much from them, although they are a large company that prides themselves on being for the community,” Raubaugh said. “From Sodexo, the lack of care for their own employees has definitely been the most disappointing part.” 

The workers reached out to the Service Employees International Union in November of 2023 hoping to organize for better treatment from management and improved pay and working conditions, according to them and Pete Schmidt, 32BJ SEIU Western Pennsylvania district leader. 

While little progress was made — the workers also blamed Sodexo and Phipps management for ignoring them in that effort — Raubaugh said they were treated better by Sodexo management after the organizing drive became public knowledge. 

Schmidt said the SEIU continues to stand with the workers and will do what it can to support them. He called the behavior of Sodexo and Phipps a “slap in the face.”

“You have turned your back on people who have made money for you,” Schmidt said. “We want the workers to know what their futures look like so that they know what to do for their families and themselves. That has just not happened.”

It’s unknown what Phipps will do for the future of its food services. As of Friday, the conservatory’s website said Cafe Phipps “is temporarily closed while we explore new ways to offer you the highest quality service.”  

The workers said they have largely enjoyed working at Phipps and have become close to their co-workers and regular customers. 

Some of the employees work daily at Cafe Phipps, and some work part-time at events such as weddings and company parties. Some are college students, while others are homeowners who need to pay off mortgages and provide for their families. 

McCray, for instance, bought a home in Lincoln Place that he needs to pay off. Raubaugh just graduated from college and needs to continue paying rent in Oakland before she begins graduate school. 

In addition to the rally Gainey attended, the workers have also received a Will of Council from Pittsburgh city council in support of them. 

Pittsburgh Councilman Bob Charland, who represents city council on the Phipps Conservatory board of directors, said at the rally that he was “upset that we’re standing here in the cold, but worse than being in the cold is being in the dark.”

“As much as Phipps prides itself on being an organization that sponsors and is a leader in regenerative thinking and making sure that we are all connected and we’re all one and we make sure we take care of the least among us, they’re not taking care of their own employees that work in one of its biggest revenue generators,” Charland said. “This is unacceptable, and I hope that we don’t have to meet like this again, but know that if we do, I’ll be standing with you.”