Work in a kitchen. Work has been steady for a while and we've built up a crew of six cooks after only having two. Ever since we had a change in our KM (kitchen manager) though it's been nonstop threats of getting hours cut, extra work to those whom they don't like, and a bunch of drama that I'd rather not get into.
Place has three owners who can't agree among one another. There have been some sketchy offers of being paid under the table for overtime hours for me before. They haven't seen health inspectors for two years now. Nothing has been updated in that kitchen for five years and the place has been falling apart in the last year.
The common question that gets asked by most of the crew is: “Can I get more hours?” Yesterday began the recourse when you can't get people hours.
One cook quit. No two weeks. Just left. One of the best cooks we've had. Left because of the lack of hours. Left from being disrepected by the owners and KM. Left because the KM always called them a nickname that from day one didn't want to be called.
Another cook begins to talk about walking away as well. Today was the last straw for me. I've been one of the only cooks to pour their blood into the place to help it run on days when it shouldn't. Im talking about fourteen hour days, covering on my days off, bringing in a variety of new recipes and things to benefit the kitchen. I got passed up for a promotion for the new KM despite them having no experience in that kitchen. One of the owners flat up said that they weren't going to hire a new KM, and have instead lied about that. And despite being the superior to the KM they still decide to threaten me and tell me that I'm not doing things their way. The cook who is thinking of leaving has me on board. Both of us are the veteran cooks there as well.
Here's the other fun part though. Two of the other cooks have been in the job market because they wanted more hours and were never given them. They're being offered dish pit shifts and expo shifts in place (which are three hours tops). Dunno how, but I'm going to convince them to also jump ship.
The last cook can only work on Fridays and weekends because they're retired. They have vehemently expressed that they won't work any longer.
We've been scheduled to come in on our only guaranteed day off for a kitchen meeting. Bright and early in the morning despite kitchen crew starting in the afternoon. Thinking that we might all just enjoy the day off instead and tell the company to fuck themselves.
Thoughts?