By Fiona Broadie, Kerry O’Gara Donovan
Cheryl Lin said she was hit with sub-zero degree wind chill and tripped several times in the snow as she made her way to her job at the George Sherman Union City Convenience on Jan. 29.
Lin was one of many Boston University staff members — considered essential workers during an emergency campus closure — scheduled to work Saturday as a record-breaking blizzard made its way through Boston.
The University announced one day prior the only facilities open Saturday were to be those considered “essential services” — the Fitness and Recreation Center, City Convenience, the Mugar Memorial Library and dining services, among others. All COVID-19 testing sites were closed.
BU spokesperson Colin Riley said there exists a precedent with keeping essential services running through severe weather conditions, noting typically harsh New England weather.
“The campus has more than 11,000 students living on campus,” he said. “We’re a small city, very much like a municipality, where people need to be fed and have options.”
Some employees scheduled to work Saturday live off-campus in Dorchester or Allston and were not expecting to report to their scheduled Saturday shift given the severity of the snowstorm.
“I got my shift covered that Friday night by someone who was working on Saturday,” said Daniel Schindler, a senior in the College of Communications and FitRec facilities supervisor. “They were like, ‘Oh, can you swap’ and I picked it up thinking I’m not going to have to go because it’s going to be closed. That obviously didn’t pan out that way.”
Muntasir Meah, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and FitRec facilities supervisor, said he believes management decided to keep the facilities open given that many students use FitRec often. He noted attendance dropped sharply Saturday.
“I would say there was probably only like a couple of hundred kids that came in throughout the entire day. As opposed to a regular Saturday, in which we maybe see over 3,000,” Meah said.
While some made it to work, it was difficult or impossible for others to commute through the blizzard.
“I was stuck because of the blizzard, so I wasn’t able to get out,” Shaquille Jones, an employee in the Security Department of BU’s libraries, said. “My driveway was completely blocked in.”
Riley said employees with difficulties reporting to their shift should discuss the situation with their supervisor. Jones said Saturday’s supervisor exhausted all options before concluding that Jones could stay home Saturday.
Additional compensation varied for employees working through the snowstorm. Meah and Schindler said FitRec employees received an increased pay rate of roughly three dollars per hour, while Lin said she received free breakfast from the GSU Starbucks.
Regarding the situation, Morgan Doyle, a freshman in the College of General Studies, said it was “unfair” that essential workers had to commute to work during the harsh weather.
“They were risking their lives to get to work since the conditions were so bad,” she said. “We could have managed without them having to come into work in the two feet of snow.”
An essential worker is an employee whose in-person service is considered a necessity even during an emergency closing, as defined by Boston University’s Employee Handbook.
Lin said City Convenience should remain closed during future snowstorms, adding it is worth thinking about the safety of both workers and students who she said should not be out in such weather conditions.
“I don’t want any students to be out walking in a blizzard,” Lin said. “Since it’s snowing so much and you can’t really see where you’re going. Help the students, help the workers … we should all stay home and have a free day.”
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