Interview by Beatriz Silva
Photography by Jack Love
LSE is not a university known for its social life, but if there is one place on campus that encapsulates just how lively this community can be, that is Tuns. Tuns is the go-to place for pre-drinks before a night out, the spot where student societies and sports clubs meet for regular socials, and the bar students inevitably gravitate towards after a long day writing essays in the library. “Tuns is the epicentre of undergraduate student life”, as one of my interviewees said as we wrapped our conversation. For this issue of The Beaver, Flipside interviewed five of the students that work behind the counter of everyone’s favourite (and our only) Students’ Union bar.
Bea, Jack, Namitha, Krish, and Mani all had previous experience working in bars before they started at Tuns. Although the SU and the bar manager, Joe, provide a training session after students are hired, all the students agreed that their previous work experience was a key factor in making their daily lives working at the bar easier. Namitha, for instance, has had a part-time job since she was 14. Jack and Krish have had this job since 2020, and were for the most part serving tables during the pandemic, spending a lot more time behind the counter this year as life in bars, including Tuns, returns to normality. Bea, a Conflict Studies master’s student who was working at a student bar throughout her undergraduate studies at King’s, was keen to take on a similar job at LSE.
After you’ve had experience working at other bars, working for a student union has a range of benefits: “This job is way more flexible, way more comfortable, nicer people, nicer environment.” And, of course, it’s at LSE which makes it a very convenient job for an LSE student. Because the Students’ Union offers a zero-hour contract, there are no commitments from the get-go. “Joe is quite sensible with accommodating our university timetables,” Krish explained. “The biggest differentiator of this job from other jobs is that it really takes into account that we are uni students.” If essay deadlines are coming up, the backoffice is very understanding and encourages the students to prioritise their academics.
Despite this, everyone tries their best to always show up because, as Namitha emphasised, “this is a really nice job as far as jobs go”. The bartenders try to coordinate amongst themselves and make the time to help each other, particularly during the busiest shifts, Wednesday and Friday nights. On days like these, work can be non-stop for six hours straight. Even so, “when I worked in catering, when it gets stressful, it’s horrible, whereas at Tuns, when it gets stressful, it’s fine,” Bea explained. There is a clear sense of comradeship between the team and a level of flexibility to the job that is difficult to come by as a student looking for part-time work in London. It is perhaps because of this that working at Tuns is one of the most popular SU jobs at LSE. “People always ask ‘how can I get it?’,” Krish shared. Everyone seemed to have had similar interactions with friends and peers before about “how to get the job”. Bea didn’t know that working at Tuns as a bartender was considered a ‘cool’ job until after she applied for it. “They [other students] see that we are having a good time,” Jack added.
“Some of my closest friends at LSE are at Tuns,” Bea shared. After spending so many hours working together at the bar, and getting along so well, this seems to have been inevitable. Jack treats his job at Tuns just like going to a bar to have a drink with friends because, at the end of the day, he gets to see familiar faces behind the bar and in front of the bar. “Me and Krish, we have dinner together when we’re both working” – and Namitha even manages to get academic work done at the bar. Coming to work every day becomes easier when you’re friends with your team, Krish observed, and work starts being about more than serving drinks in order to get paid. Tuns is an inherently social space, which explains why the job, on less busy days, is pleasant to do. Namitha, who this year also worked with the Students’ Union by delivering Consent Ed workshops, explained that the jobs were completely different in terms of what they required from her: “[Consent Ed] requires a lot more focus, a lot more brain power. At the end of the shift it can be quite exhausting. But this is still the chillest job ever.”
Although the positives clearly outweigh the negatives, there are still aspects of the job that can be difficult to juggle. “I had some experiences where students were really rude,” Mani confessed. Everyone seemed to have had similar experiences at some point during their time working, but it’s something they are used to and try not to take personally. “Just pour the drink and go to the next person.” If someone seems too drunk or is acting in a disrespectful way towards the bartenders, they can simply decide not to serve that person, no questions asked: “We can always not serve someone if we think there is a reason why. I don’t have to explain to anybody but if I decide that I don’t want to serve you because you are being disrespectful, I don’t. Everyone else will back you up.” As Bea and Namitha explained, in other bars, you tend to have to serve everybody no matter what. “I feel like at my old bar job I had to brush everything under the carpet, but here there’s much clearer boundaries.” At Tuns, when lines are crossed, the bartenders’ concerns are taken seriously. Fortunately, this does not happen regularly. There is the occasional fight, but everyone agreed that management handles such situations well, and security checks IDs on busy nights. Overall, everyone feels as though they work in a safe environment.
Describing why Tuns plays such an important role in student life at LSE, Bea said: “There are no expectations as to what students can do here.” You don’t necessarily have to buy a drink, and it’s one of the most accessible hangout spaces at LSE, even to have lunch. It is a place particularly important for undergraduate students that brings together sports clubs and societies, and it is where some of the SU’s most inclusive themed nights and events take place. At The Beaver, we know just how important Tuns is in providing moments to relax with friends and celebrate our achievements, however small. Apart from maintenance issues that take too long to get solved, the students working at Tuns are grateful for the job that has become a defining feature of their time at LSE, and that has brought them some of their best friends at university. “Without Tuns LSE would not be the same.”
