350 Push for Paid Sick Days at 12th Labor Seder

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The focus of this year’s Labor Seder was winning paid sick days for area workers, and anyone questioning why servers and kitchen workers especially need paid sick days need only hear Woong Chang’s gripping story about how – not wanting to lose pay or his job – he kept working as a waiter in a DC restaurant despite getting sicker and sicker until finally discovering that he had swine flu, potentially exposing hundreds of people. Three hundred and fifty activists crowded into the Adas Israel synagogue in northwest DC for the 12th annual celebration of struggle, solidarity and Jewish tradition. "You are the conscience of our community," said Metro Council President Jos Williams. "It's not okay to pay $5 for a burger and not pay workers well or give them paid sick days," said Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal. “It's not a workers rights issue,” Shallal added, “it's a human rights issue." Saru Jayaraman of Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) United fired up the gathering by calling out the National Restaurant Association - "the other NRA" – for their virulent opposition to workers' rights. Jayaraman also talked about how her new book Behind the Kitchen Door has the potential to focus national attention on the plight of the largest workforce in the country, the 10 million people who work in America’s restaurant industry for low wages and no paid sick days. In additional to writing letters to local politicians on a range of labor issues, participants were given cards to leave with wait-staff that provide information about ROC. - report/photos by Chris Garlock