Restaurant workers fled the industry throughout the Great Resignation, with no end in sight.
In order to codify the necessities for better working conditions, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United has worked to develop the Restaurant Workers Bill of Rights. The package of rights aims to provide restaurant workers with living wages, better access to health care, a safe working environment and participation in governance.
Teo Reyes, program director at Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, says the bill is needed.
“The basic impetus for this is that we bring workers together to build power,” Reyes explained. “One of the steps will be to introduce these bills at the federal level in Congress, at the state level, and at the municipal level, and then move the components forward as the opportunity arises.”
This Bill of Rights will be presented to Congress in September. Months of outreach to restaurant workers across the United States helped determine what should be in the bill.
New York’s restaurant industry has seen 120,000 people leave for different jobs, according to a report of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, in part due to low wages and rising prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In New York, workers in any industry can see what they are entitled to under Declaration of workers’ rights.
Reyes thinks the document will need to be updated to reflect the most current needs of restaurant workers. He shared some gripes the workers had, providing a clear path on what changes need to be made.
“It breeds a lot of unhealthy behaviors like binge drinking and late-night eating,” Reyes pointed out. “I’m not as healthy and I miss a lot of the next day to catch up on sleep. I think restaurants should provide health care and dental care. People have complained about rude customers, people complaining. complained about the schedule; like two weeks notice to schedule even in a small business.”
Not all survey responses were negative. Many of those interviewed praised their colleagues, and others felt it could be a very lucrative industry, which Reyes hopes to maintain by establishing the bill of rights.
Disclosure: Restaurant Opportunities Center United contributes to our fund for civil rights, human rights/racial justice, living wages/working families and social justice reports. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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Too many Latinos are stuck in low-wage jobs, and some with darker skin are facing discrimination and an even steeper rise to the middle class, according to a new report.
Statistics show that about one-third of Nevada’s population is Latino.
Jessica Vela, Tax and Fiscal Policy Research Assistant at the Center for American Progresssaid many Latino workers, especially those of Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran descent, toil in low-paying industries such as hospitality or caregiving that are plagued with labor violations.
“Hispanic and Latino workers make up a large portion of the tip worker population,” she said. “Latinos make up 17% of the overall workforce, but make up 24% of tipped employees.”
The report notes that tipped workers often earn below-minimum wages, are at the mercy of the economy, and have been laid off by the millions during the pandemic. It also found that Hispanic men had the highest unemployment rate during COVID, followed by Hispanic women.
Vela noted that home care is one of the most common occupations for Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Salvadoran and Dominican women. She argued that all states should step in to demand better working conditions.
“California signed a statewide agreement with Childcare Providers United to raise wage rates,” she said. “They have subsidized child care slots, which can be extremely helpful for many families who need to work.”
Advocates are calling for a higher federal minimum wage and more grants to help people afford to go to college or trade school. A report from Georgetown University found that Latinos make up about 37% of Nevada’s college-age population, but only about 29% of students at four-year colleges and 36% at community colleges.
Support for this report was provided by Lumina Foundation.
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It’s been about three years since workers at Chipotle restaurants in New York began their efforts to unionize, and it has yet to happen.
Lawsuits have been filed by the city against the restaurant chain of 2019 and in 2021alleging violations of New York law Fair Work Week Act in creating more predictable work schedules.
The company was fined over $150 million.
Jérémy Espinal, union organizer for 32BJ SEIUsaid organizing efforts continue to be hampered by misinformation.
“We’ve seen workers where we reach out to them, and they have a very negative experience with us; where they try to run away, or they yell at us that they’re not interested in talking to us,” Espinal c is noted. “And a lot of that comes from the fear of not knowing. They don’t know who we are, they don’t know what we’re trying to talk to them about, or they’ve already been scared of the business.”
Espinal, who previously worked at Chipotle, said other recent successful efforts to organize at chains like Starbucks have reignited the conversation about the potential benefits of joining a union. But he acknowledged that it’s difficult when a company pulls back, not just locally, but nationally.
The formal vote on forming a union may have stalled, but Espinal stressed he knows what needs to happen to move forward.
“Workers coming together, workers showing their strength to the company, workers showing their value to the company,” Espinal stressed. “I think it definitely has to come from the workers, because obviously a union is made up of the workers, and it’s only as strong as the workers as a whole.”
New York is one of the few cities to have so-called “predictive scheduling” laws, allowing workers to plan their schedules and get an idea of what they will be paid. A few states have passed laws restricting them.
Disclosure: 32BJ SEIU contributes to our Fund for Reporting on Policy and Budget Priorities, Hunger/Food/Nutrition, Immigration Issues, and Living Wages/Working Families. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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There is a new effort to reform Ohio’s unemployment compensation system to better include low-wage workers.
Currently, someone paid minimum wage can work 31 hours a week and never qualify for benefits because the earnings threshold for unemployment compensation is $298 a week over at least 20 weeks of work.
Michael Shields, a researcher for Policy Matters Ohio, says the cap excludes about 750,000 workers who are less likely to have the savings to get through a spell of unemployment.
“Unemployment (compensation) is designed in part to help people get through a period of unemployment,” Shields explained. “So that they can find a new job that really matches their skills, and that will help cover the basic needs of their families.”
Below Senate Bill 355which was introduced last week, a worker in Ohio would have to work 20 weeks and earn $1,500 in the year, including $1,000 in one quarter to qualify.
Shields explained that Ohio’s earnings test for unemployment benefits is stricter than all but three other states, and he noted that it is unfair.
“Because women are paid less than men, women actually have to work two and a half hours more per week to qualify for benefits than their male counterparts,” Shields pointed out. “Similarly, black workers in Ohio would have to work four more hours a week than their typically white counterparts to qualify for unemployment benefits if they lost their jobs.”
He added research found 460,000 Ohioans who are not currently eligible for benefits would be eligible under the bill.
Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.
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