“You either come in or you don't have a job the next day,” says John, who is a server at a restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. John is one of thousands of workers in the restaurant industry who face strenuous work environments with little access to benefits. This includes the lack of health insurance and paid sick days. In a recent survey conducted by the Restaurant Opportunities Center United, it was revealed that 63% of restaurant workers have cooked or served while sick. What this essentially means is that employees who should be receiving medical attention are instead being forced to work tirelessly, jeopardizing not only their own safety, but also that of others around them, including the consumer.
If you're about to eat in a restaurant, you should read this first.
Or then again, maybe you'd rather not.
A report being released at a Congressional hearing later this morning by the D.C.-based Restaurant Opportunities Centers United ("a national restaurant workers' organization, comprised of restaurant worker organizations across the country," according to its Web site) says, among other key findings from its survey of more than 4,000 restaurant workers nationwide, that "nearly 90% of workers said they did not receive paid sick days. As a result, two thirds of respondents said they had worked while sick in the previous year, preparing, cooking and serving food."-Why you should care about paid sick leave
Clearly the market craves diseased workers. I know one thing: if the government better not step in and try to tell these hard working restaurant owners who have health insurance and sick days how to run their business.
ReplyDeleteIf the waiters owned the place, I bet upping their pay would come second to not having to sing happy birthday to morons.
BUT, the other side is that your 8$ hamburger will now cost 12$. Do you want to pay for that? Most of the public says NO. ergo McDonalds.
ReplyDeleteHaving been a waitress once, who hasn't, it is probably the hardest physical job I ever had and I was an aerobics instructor and worked in a horse barn. Also note that the majority of resteraunt workers are the youth of America..
What a rollercoaster in NYC on paid sick days these days! It's on the verge of becoming law, and not a moment too soon: nearly one and a half million New York City residents are not allowed by their employers to earn paid sick days. This is a serious issue for New York's families – one that has overwhelming public support. Without paid sick time, women--especially low-income women with children and single mothers--face impossible choices between tending to their own health or the health of their children and their family’s economic security. And sadly in New York City the people least likely to earn paid sick days are the ones most likely to have jobs that require frequent contact with the public, like food service, child care, nursing home and retail employees. We all get sick - we shouldn't have to worry if we'll still have a job when we get better. Useful info from experts and NYC advocates here: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/speaker-quinn-nyc-needs-paid-sick-days/
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