Labor
Santa Monica Will Raise Minimum Wage Rate On July 1
Canyon News 6/20
Employers in the City of Santa Monica will raise the minimum wage rate on July 1st, 2020 to $15 to comply with updated provisions in the Citywide Minimum Wage Ordinance.
For some restaurant employees, reopening is a lose-lose proposition
Los Angeles Times 6/19
Working in the restaurant industry has never been easy. But as L.A. and other cities across the country chaotically attempt to go about business as usual, restaurant servers, hosts and bartenders on the front lines of the reopening are particularly at risk.
One Fair Wage Wants to Help Reopen Restaurants—and Change How They Pay Workers
Civil Eats 6/19
In partnership with New York City, the organization is offering grants to 100 family-run restaurants forced to close due to COVID-19, with the goal of raising wages and increasing equity.
Hire Laid Off Restaurant Workers Back First, Encourages Stacey Abrams
Forbes 6/19
Potential Democratic vice presidential nominee Stacey Abrams called on the restaurant industry Thursday to do better for its employees of all backgrounds as dining establishments begin to more fully re-open following the easing of coronavirus-related lockdowns.
When Employees Refuse to Return to Work Due to COVID-19
QSR Magazine 6/19
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpke recently called for employees to have the right to refuse to go to work if they believe it is unsafe due to their employer’s failure to institute sufficient protocols to protect them from COVID-19.
Food Industry Policy
Oakland Waives Fees, Streamlines Permitting for ‘Flex Streets’ Program
NBC Bay Area 6/21
The City of Oakland announced Friday it is streamlining the permitting process for businesses wanting to apply to use public rights-of-way – sidewalks and parking spaces, in particular – to allow outdoor dining and retail activity under the “Flex Streets” program.
Did L.A. restaurants open too soon? One restaurant says yes
Los Angeles Times 6/20
In early March, two weeks before the coronavirus shut down L.A. dining rooms — before the new reality of disposable menus, face-shield-wearing servers and robot waiters — I wrote an enthusiastic review of Bar Avalon in Echo Park.
California says people must wear masks in restaurants and bars. Will it actually happen?
The Sacramento Bee 6/19
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide mask directive issued Thursday requires customers to wear masks at restaurants and bars while not eating and drinking. It’s unclear whether that’ll actually be followed.
On the Side
These two L.A. chefs aren’t staying quiet. Their meals are fueling a revolution against racism
Los Angeles Times 6/19
On a recent Sunday afternoon, Rogelio “Rogie” Hernandez, wearing a canvas apron, disposable gloves, and a coiled bandana tied around his brow, set up a small table at the edge of Grand Park in downtown L.A., where he passed out small plastic containers filled with home-cooked beans and rice, fingerling potatoes, green salsa and fresh bolillos to a small group of protesters standing vigil at City Hall.
An Extinction Event for America’s Restaurants
The Atlantic 6/19
The american restaurant as you knew it died on March 19. That’s the day Governor Gavin Newsom issued a stay-in order to the citizens of California, the first in a 50-state cascade that brought to an end one of the most momentous and successful runs in the industry’s history.
