Introduction:
Over the last 60 years, the restaurant industry has accounted for nearly half of all food dollars spent in the U.S. Few of us think about the people who work in these establishments when we go out to eat. Dishwashers and line cooks, who work behind the scenes, are sometimes overlooked. When it comes to food justice, restaurant workers are generally left out of the conversation. This is a big omission, given that there are more than 13 million of them in the United States alone—nearly 1 in 10 workers in the country. Employer's behavior has a direct impact on this. This impact is on the whole a negative one.
About the Workers:
In the restaurant, the crew is organized into two distinct categories. Servers and bussers are "front of house" workers who deal with guests. People who work in the "back of the house," such as cooks, line workers, and dishwashers, are less apparent. A unique divide is created by the habit of tipping front-of-house employees. People working in different places are therefore one of the biggest causes of injustice in the industry. Primarily, front-of-house workers are white, whereas the lowest-paid roles are disproportionately held by people of color and immigrants. In addition to the economic disparities that this creates, it is also worth asking what it says about the types of faces that employers want visible on the front lines of their companies.
Nature of the work:
Physically and mentally draining, fast-paced restaurant work tends to be a high-stress environment. The practice of working overtime is popular, yet overtime is generally unpaid. Restaurants are increasingly choosing to hire part-time or temporary staff in order to avoid paying benefits, and employee turnover is significant. Employers are actually forced to pay a considerable cost to maintain a high turnover rate, and workers are prevented from feeling secure in their jobs. This prevents workers from speaking up about working conditions and is a stressor on its own. As if that weren't enough, restaurant workers are likely to be food insecure, much like farmworkers. Scheduling is unpredictable and often changes at the last minute, with shifts occurring at odd hours or late at night as workers struggle to fill positions and support themselves and their families. A mother's ability to obtain proper childcare is hampered by this.
