Celeste and I have an op-ed in the Washington Post's local opinion section about DC's paid sick leave law, which contains an exception that's especially problematic during flu season: it doesn't cover tipped restaurant workers. Read "Your meal shouldn't come with a side of the flu" at the Washington Post's site.
And if you want to eat at restaurants where workers have paid sick days (and other benefits many of us take for granted), check out the Restaurant Opportunities Center's 2013 Dining Guide, or download the accompanying iPhone or Android app for your city.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Most readers are probably aware that tomorrow, 2/14, is Valentine's Day, but do you know what's significant about 2/13? It's not a cue to buy chocolates -- it's a reminder that federal law only requires restaurants to pay their workers an hourly wage of $2.13. That minimum hasn't been raised since…
The worker-led organization Restaurant Opportunities Center United released this month a new type of diners' guide, one that focuses on working conditions for the employees at 180 restaurants nationwide. The US restaurant industry employs 10 million individuals and is the fastest growing sector in…
Annual sales revenue in the nation's restaurant industry tops $515 billion, but few of the 10.3 million workers in the industry earn a living wage. Those are the findings released today of comprehensive surveys of working conditions for 1,700 restaurant workers employed in Washington DC, Miami…
Twenty years ago, President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which many workers still rely on to assure that they can return to their jobs after taking unpaid time off for a new baby or to deal with a serious illness - their own or a family member's. But, NPR's Jennifer Ludden…
Wonderful op-ed; congratulations! Is there any chance you guys will be attending the "Selling Sickness: People before Profit" conference next week in DC? I would love to get an account of it from some worker health advocates and single-payer supporters.
In response to the law recently passed in Seattle that employers must allow workers to earn sick leave, one cafe owner posted a sign at the registers that he was charging an extra 1.5% to pay for the sick leave. He stated to local press that he'd never needed sick leave before, and he didn't want his staff taking it now. I was stunned that this guy thinks so little of both his workers and his customers that he would want sick people to come in and sneeze (or whatever) all over people's coffee and sandwiches.
If I get sick, even if I don't know where, I don't go our to buy coffee or lunch until I'm better. How are few customers a good thing?