Restaurant Workers Suffer as Industry Thrives

by Jennifer Lawinski, Posted Feb 12th 2010 @ 10:30AM

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Be kind when tipping your waitress next time you dine out. A new report shows restaurant workers around the country may be getting a raw deal from employers, the Washington Post reported.

While restaurants may have bounced back from the economic slump, the industry's workers are still suffering from low wages and a lack of benefits, according to a new report from the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC), a nonprofit organization that advocates better wages and work conditions for restaurant workers, the paper reported.

The average restaurant worker made $12,868 in 2008, compared with $45,371 for employees in the general private sector, according to labor bureau statistics.

The report said 90 percent of restaurant staffers don't get health insurance or sick days, 67 percent go to work sick and 38 percent are forced to work off the clock.

The report's authors surveyed more than 2,500 restaurant industry workers and 150 employers in Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, New York and Portland, Maine, the Post reported.

Jose Oliva, ROC's national policy coordinator told the Post the report reveals two things. "One, the restaurant industry is resilient, even in the face of this Great Recession. The other is that the kind of jobs that are being created are not the kind of jobs we want to have in America when we come out of the recession."

The National Restaurant Association, however, disagrees.

"This report paints a distorted image of the restaurant industry and its employees while pushing the ROC's agenda," spokesman Mike Donohue, told the Post.

The report also found that higher-paying restaurant jobs that provide benefits and pay a "living wage" tend to go to white workers while workers of color earned, on average, $3.20 less per hour than their white co-workers, the paper reported.

Filed Under: Business, Restaurants
Tags: restaurant opportunities centers united, restaurant workers, restaurant workers salaries

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-12-2010 @12:15PM Dave said... The answer isn't for the customer to tip more. The answer is to regulate the industry.
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2-18-2010 @7:50AM Luke said... The answer is that if the worker does not like their pay or job, quit. When the owner/ manager cannot hire anyone at that pay, they will be forced to change. Regualtion does nothing except take away freedom.
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2-14-2010 @5:51PM cathy said... I agree with Dave, I always tip 20% for good service. I can't afford to up that and subsidize what the restaurant owners should be paying its employees. http://newsy1.wordpress.com
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2-22-2010 @1:59AM Advanced Cleanse said... hi Guise my name is Dimond shek..Restaurant worker face also industrial type problem. Because in Restaurants worker doing work in low salary package rate...it's not so easy for manage the life...

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