Fresh Connections – The Parfitt Way Blog

A recent book review in YES! Magazine took the food and restaurant industry to task for poor wages and terrible working conditions as alleged in the book Behind the Kitchen Door by Saru Jayaraman. See it here. They present as facts that restaurant workers are paid only $2.13 per hour and haven’t had a pay increase in a generation. In Yes! Magazine’s home state of Washington, the minimum wage for all workers is $9.19 per hour (currently, and tied to an ever-increasing, annual cost of living adjustment) and employer’s may not include tips towards that total. This information is readily available on the Washington State Department of Labor website.

The review/book quotes extensively from the Restaurants Opportunities Centers United which is attempting to organize food service workers nationwide for better pay and conditions. The article states this organization has 26 chapters in 23 states none apparently here in Washington State.

Many full-time restaurant workers claim $35,000 to $40,000 per year, with an additional undisclosed amount made in cash tips. Full time is described as 30 hours per week or more. Also, according to the Washington State Restaurant Association (WSRA) which compiles statistics on the the industry, most full-time salaried employees are offered medical insurance and many offer it to their hourly employees. The review claims that such benefits are nonexistent. A former teacher who works in the industry has been overheard stating, “I can’t afford to go back to teaching since I get paid much more at waiting tables.” For many who choose the industry it becomes a lucrative profession.

Another example is a friend of mine who now works in the financial service industry who took a significant cut when he left his work as a food server. In fact, several of his friends now work for some elite steakhouses in the Seattle area and get paid close to $80,000 a year.

There are great opportunities available for those who are willing to commit to the restaurant business. It’s good and honorable work and provides a living wage for the workers as well as considerable pleasure for the diners. Are there poorly treated employees out there? Surely.  Is the industry as a whole corruptly taking advantage of the workforce? Not here in Washington. As in any situation talk with the people with whom you interact in restaurants. If they are being treated poorly then take your dollars elsewhere… no bad business deserves to or should thrive for long if the employees are being exploited. By that same token do support local restaurants, pubs and coffee houses which do provide not only a quality dining experience but a quality working environment for your friends and neighbors.