Labor
Report: Majority of Black servers’ tips dropped by at least half during pandemic
Restaurant Dive 2/8
Nearly 90% of Black restaurant employees have experienced at least a 50% decline in tips since the start of the pandemic began, compared to 78% of all restaurant employees, according to a new report from labor advocacy organization One Fair Wage. Seventy-three percent of Black workers also said customers tipped them less for enforcing safety protocols, versus 62% of White workers.
$15 Minimum Wage Would Cost 1.4 Million Jobs, Report Predicts
QSR Magazine 2/8
Sean Kennedy, EVP of public affairs at the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement Monday the report supports earlier concerns, when he described raising the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 and eliminating the tip credit for servers as “an impossible challenge for the restaurant industry.”
Food Industry Policy
Two SLO County supervisors urge state to cease using ABC to target local businesses
Paso Robles Daily News 2/9
District 1 Supervisor John Peschong and District 5 Supervisor Debbie Arnold this week co-signed a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom Monday, asking the state and the governor to ease enforcement for restaurants, bars, wineries, breweries, and distilleries in the county that have been cited by the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control and threatened with closures.
Cuomo unveils plan to revive New York City arts, moves up indoor dining reopening
Reuters 2/8
Cuomo also moved up the date on which New York City restaurants may reopen their indoor dining rooms at 25% of capacity to Friday Feb. 12 from the previously announced Sunday Feb. 14, which is Valentine’s Day, one of the industry’s busiest days.
On the Side
Crowdfunding Portals Offer Funding Mechanism For Independent Restaurant Revival
Restaurant Finance Monitor 2/8
Regulation Crowdfunding is a means of selling securities to the public without registering them with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale is facilitated by an SEC-registered crowdfunding portal such as Mainvest, Nextseed, or in this case, Honeycomb Credit, also based in Pittsburgh.
More than 100 Connecticut restaurants hibernating through winter to ‘slow the bleeding’ amid coronavirus pandemic
Hartford Courant 2/8
Pomona Pete’s is one of about 100 restaurants statewide that have gone into hibernation, according to Scott Dolch of the Connecticut Restaurant Association. Like bears, these restaurants are shutting it all down until the return of warm weather. Outdoor dining has been determined to be safer to combat the transmission of the coronavirus, and even with social distancing, many customers feel safer eating outdoors than inside.
