"BEHIND THE KITCHEN DOOR" FOCUSES ON THOSE WHO SERVE

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Eatonville Restaurant’s breakfast shift was packed to capacity yesterday, but not just with the usual Valentine’s Day traffic. The crowd was there to attend the DC Restaurant Industry Summit, where the Restaurant Opportunities Center of DC released their long-awaited report Behind the Kitchen Door:  Inequality & Opportunity in Washington, D.C.’s Thriving Restaurant Industry.  The findings of the report shed light on this growing industry, but more importantly on the men and women who work in it. Author Barbara Ehrenreich who worked as a waitress while researching her 2001 book Nickel and Dimed, bluntly dispelled the myth that restaurant workers deserve low pay because the work is unskilled. “For anyone who thinks that, I have two words for you,” Ehrenreich said, “Try it.” Ehrenreich was part of an all-star panel discussion on the findings included Dr. William Spriggs, Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, Councilmember Phil Mendelson, Algernon Austin of the Economic Policy Institute, restaurant owner Andy Shallal, restaurant critic Don Rockwell, Dr. Celeste Montforton of George Washington University’s School of Public Health and restaurant workers Jamal Rauf and Katherine Jimenez. Shallal, who ensures that his employees at Eatonville and Busboys & Poets receive benefits, spoke about the social cost of low wage jobs, making a link with the high cost of cheap goods at places such as Walmart. Rauf, a chef, spoke to the disrespect and discrimination he’s endured as an African-American, while Jimenez, a hostess, shed light on sex discrimination in the industry, sharing a story of being forced to wear high heels by management. A recurring theme was the need for sick days for restaurant workers. DC passed a sick days law in 2008, but tipped restaurant workers were exempted after heavy lobbying by the restaurant industry. The Behind the Kitchen Door report finds that 79.4% of restaurant employees do not get paid sick days and nearly 60% report having come to work sick at their restaurant. Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), who sponsored the original paid sick days law in DC, said a grassroots movement was needed to change the political climate in the city. “The more people speak out and organize, the greater the change that we can change things,” he said.
- Lillian Walker Shelton; photo by Sarah Massey, Massey Media