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D.C. Restaurants Are Having a Staffing Crisis - Washington City Paper https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/514156/d-c-restaurants-are-having-a-staffing-crisis/">https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/5...
When I dropped out of college and went back to NYC to pursue an acting career I wasn& #39;t interested in the life of being a waiter, and since food was my other first love, I started looking for cooking jobs.
Back then (early 80s) servers got full minimum wage and tips
Back then (early 80s) servers got full minimum wage and tips
were not cash. This meant that servers actually lived decent lives in New York. Not elaborate, not exquisite (unless you were a lifer working in places like The Russian Tea Room), but decent. You ate well, went to the movies with friends, and generally enjoyed life, while also
working hard.
Almost the same for kitchen workers, who didn& #39;t make tips but did make a few dollars over the minimum wage. The minimum wage back then was, even by New York standards, not great, but doable. Life wasn& #39;t as flexible as for servers, but you did okay.
Almost the same for kitchen workers, who didn& #39;t make tips but did make a few dollars over the minimum wage. The minimum wage back then was, even by New York standards, not great, but doable. Life wasn& #39;t as flexible as for servers, but you did okay.
And then Reagan happened. Ronnie wanted all of those tax cuts and in order to not have the social net completely collapse, Dems countered Reagan& #39;s team with raising taxes on middle and working class, taxing Unemployment, and taxing tips. They also added a
"reduced minimum wage"
"reduced minimum wage"
for servers.
Reagans cuts were still too much and plunged the country into a recession that resulted in his raising taxes several times just to get things back to...some sort of even keel by non working people& #39;s standards.
Reagans cuts were still too much and plunged the country into a recession that resulted in his raising taxes several times just to get things back to...some sort of even keel by non working people& #39;s standards.
And they kept taxing tips, Unemployment, and continued the "reduced minimum wage".
Restaurant owners loved this, of course. Suddenly restaurants had a more secure future even if the food wasn& #39;t particularly good, because overhead was greatly reduced.
Landlords loved it because
Restaurant owners loved this, of course. Suddenly restaurants had a more secure future even if the food wasn& #39;t particularly good, because overhead was greatly reduced.
Landlords loved it because
restaurant owners making more money meant they could raise the rents, Ed Koch having eliminated commercial rent control in NYC. Other municipalities followed suit if they even had commercial rent control at all.
So sure, restaurant owners were getting richer, the wealthy
So sure, restaurant owners were getting richer, the wealthy
yuppies moving into the Upper West Side could eat out all of the time, but the folks who were making and serving their meals were now struggling to make ends meet because they were all making less money.
This is a model that has been going on for years....and
This is a model that has been going on for years....and
the reality is that restaurants everywhere have ended up having staffing issues for decades.
Cooks jump ship the moment they find a place where they can make even 25 cents more an hour. That& #39;s when they aren& #39;t working two different restaurants, cooking meals for 80 hours a week
Cooks jump ship the moment they find a place where they can make even 25 cents more an hour. That& #39;s when they aren& #39;t working two different restaurants, cooking meals for 80 hours a week
for a minimum wage that hasn& #39;t moved in decades.
Rents have gone up, but not the reduced minimum wage for servers who are now often called upon to be unofficial assistant managers so that the restaurant can save $ on payroll because now THEIR rents are ridiculous.
Rents have gone up, but not the reduced minimum wage for servers who are now often called upon to be unofficial assistant managers so that the restaurant can save $ on payroll because now THEIR rents are ridiculous.
This is a way of life that was always hard, but in general also had more benefit years ago.
All of the troubles that the article points out are real...but I talk with a lot of cooks and a few chefs here and there, most of us out of work and figuring things out over the past year
All of the troubles that the article points out are real...but I talk with a lot of cooks and a few chefs here and there, most of us out of work and figuring things out over the past year
most of us, and by that I mean all of us, aren& #39;t really enthusiastic about going back to restaurant work. The pay sucks, the physical toll is real, and the stress can be unbearable (the vast majority of chefs are alcoholic, either full on or recovering).
The model for food service has to change.
I think it starts with workers owning the means of production and also more creative and imaginative approaches to running a restaurant, focusing more on the communities that restaurants are located in, supporting and even creating
I think it starts with workers owning the means of production and also more creative and imaginative approaches to running a restaurant, focusing more on the communities that restaurants are located in, supporting and even creating
urban farms to both reduce some food costs and maintain a different level of quality control.
In addition to ownership, real minimum wage as a baseline for servers and $20 an hour to start for cooks.
Otherwise, none of this is going to work well. Ever.
In addition to ownership, real minimum wage as a baseline for servers and $20 an hour to start for cooks.
Otherwise, none of this is going to work well. Ever.
