Words by Ben Lauren PZ ’25

Graphic by Genevieve O’Mara SC ’28

In February 2024, after working in Pitzer College’s dining services for nearly a decade, Bon Appétit Management Company terminated Adan Campos for a lapsed visa. Now, nearly a year later — after a seven-month-long campaign calling on Pitzer to rehire him — he is just a step away from returning to the community he sees as his family.

Last month, the Claremont Student-Worker Alliance (CSWA) announced Pitzer agreed to hire Campos for the next cook position at the college that becomes open to the public — exceeding the 30-day waiting period for internal candidates. The deal was negotiated by UNITE HERE! Local 11, the union that represents Pitzer’s workers, who agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the college according to CSWA member Jack Weidner PO ’25.

The union’s role in Campos’ return to Pitzer has been critical from the very beginning, with over 70 Pitzer workers signing a petition last August demanding he be hired as a cook. Though the union’s collective bargaining agreement with Pitzer has prevented its workers from going on strike or joining boycott picket lines in support of Campos in the months since, Weidner explained their overwhelming desire to have their former co-worker back in the kitchen has never wavered.

“Because a super majority of Pitzer workers signed the [petition] originally the summer … the union made the argument that this is a union issue,” Weidner said. “The union … can decide if an issue is affecting their entire unit, they can draft up legal language and negotiate with Pitzer.”

The MoU is not legally binding, but Weidner described it as “leverage” for getting the school to open a new cook position. Still, he acknowledged that there is no timeline set for when a position will become available. Campos also told The Outback he is not sure if he will be hired this semester, but hopes to be back at Pitzer by the end of 2025.

In their Feb. 26 Instagram post announcing Campos’s hiring, CSWA stated that Pitzer has been stalling, adding the ongoing claim that the dining services team is understaffed.

“Shame on Pitzer for stalling and dragging out a rehiring that should have happened last spring — and for continuing to drag it out by waiting for an open position, even as McConnell is understaffed. Pitzer endangers its workers and all of us with its greed,” CSWA wrote on Instagram.

Pitzer Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer Laura Schaefer did not respond for comment on these allegations by time of publication.

CSWA’s post also referenced their allegation from last semester that Pitzer’s General Manager of Dining Services and Bon Appétit employee Miguel Menjivar …

“Especially at a time when our immigrant communities are so brazenly under attack, we must do all that we can to fight against injustice, not least against our own colleges’ exploitation of its workers.”

In an interview with The Outback in October, Shaefer stated while she would not support that comment, she doesn’t know if it was really made.

Given the Trump administration’s unprecedented crackdown on immigration since his inauguration, Weidner emphasized how unions generally have resources to protect and legally represent undocumented and DACA workers.

“Many UNITE HERE! contracts — although I don’t know specifically about Pitzer and Pomona [College] — have specific protections for workers … in the processes of undergoing immigration enforcement checks.”

Regardless, CSWA has made it clear they see this as an outright victory for student activism. Another CSWA member, Grayson Kunz PZ ’28 described its importance in the face of increasing suppression of student protest by 5Cs administrators and now by the federal government.

“It feels really good to have a notable victory in the books,” Kunz said. “There’s been a marked air of suppression, both nationally and on campus, so having a sign of success is great for morale.”