Restaurant workers have been fleeing the industry throughout the Great Resignation, with no end in sight.

In order to codify necessities for better working conditions, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United has been working to develop the Restaurant Workers Bill of Rights. The set of rights seeks to provide restaurant workers with livable wages, better access to health care, a safe work environment and participation in governance.

Teo Reyes, chief program officer at Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, believes there's a need for this bill.

"The fundamental impetus for this is for us to bring workers together to build power," Reyes explained. "One of the milestones will be getting these bills introduced at a federal level in Congress, at the state level, and at a municipal level, and then advancing components of those as the opportunity presents itself."

This bill of rights will be introduced to Congress in September. Months of outreach to restaurant workers across the U.S. helped determine what should go into the bill.

New York's own restaurant industry has seen 120,000 people leaving for different jobs, according to a report from the University of California-Berkeley's Food Labor Research Center, due in part to low wages and rising prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In New York City, workers from any sector can see what they are entitled to under the city's Workers Bill of Rights.

Reyes believes the document will need to be updated to reflect the most current needs of restaurant workers. He shared some gripes workers had, providing a clear path on what changes should be made.

"It breeds a lot of unhealthy behaviors like excessive drinking and late-night eating," Reyes pointed out. "I'm not as healthy, and I miss large parts of the next day catching up on sleep. I think that restaurants should provide health care and dental care. People complained about rude customers, people complained about scheduling; like two weeks' notice to schedule even in a small business."

Not all the survey's answers were negative. Many of those surveyed praised their co-workers, and others felt it could be a highly lucrative industry, something Reyes hopes to maintain through establishing the bill of rights.

More than 40% of private sector workers in Pennsylvania earned their living at businesses without retirement plans, as of 2020. Multiple groups are now urging the General Assembly to pass legislation to change it.

A bill under consideration would establish a state-facilitated retirement savings program for private-sector workers.

Bill Johnston-Walsh, state director for AARP Pennsylvania, said the bill aims to address the retirement security gap in Pennsylvania, where more than two million workers lack a workplace retirement savings plan.

He thinks the "Keystone Saves" program outlined in the bill would be a win, both for small businesses and their employees.

"The important thing about Keystone Saves is that it is where the worker owns their own account," Johnston-Walsh explained. "It's where they can take it from job to job, so it's portable. And the bottom line is that they will be able to start saving for their retirement."

Johnston-Walsh argued a simple, voluntary payroll deduction would give more people a chance to build their own financial security. In other states, some banking and investment interests have voiced concerns it could cut into their business.

Research indicates people are 15 times more likely to save for retirement with a workplace plan. House Bill 577 passed the House in May and is now under consideration by the state Senate.

This week, AARP Pennsylvania was part of a news conference about the bill, with Sen. Art Haywood, D-Montgomery, and Rep. Kyle Mullins, D-Blakely. Johnston-Walsh added in a recent poll, up to 79% of small businesses and business owners said they'd support Keystone Saves.

"By passing this legislation, the Keystone Saves legislation, we'll be putting a secure future within everyone's reach within Pennsylvania now," Johnston-Walsh contended. "It's fair. It's right. And it's time to be able to do this and pass Keystone Saves."

He noted they have until the end of November 2024 to get the bill to the governor's desk for a signature. Eighteen states have already enacted state-facilitated payroll-deduction retirement savings, sometimes known as "Work and Save" programs.

As the summer construction season ramps up, the industry is preparing for new requirements under a pending Minnesota law change.

In recent years, Minnesota has cracked down on wage theft. But labor leaders within construction say they were still seeing too many workers being taken advantage of.

They pushed for a bill in the recent legislative session to hold owners and managers of construction sites liable, and not just a subcontractor suspected of wage theft.

Adam Duininck, director of government affairs for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, said the provision was included in a final budget bill.

"The best part about this law, if it works really well," said Duininck, "what will happen is general (contractors) and developers won't hire those bad subcontractors to begin with - because then the general and the developer will understand that they're responsible for that."

The bill does carve out exemptions for certain single-family housing development projects, as well as contractors with collective bargaining agreements.

Some associations within the industry criticized the plan, saying it plays favorites in regard to those exemptions.

But Duininck contended that job sites with unionized contractors often don't have problems with wage theft.

The changes are scheduled to take effect August 1. In the meantime, Duininck said he hopes there's not only awareness among project leaders - but that word spreads among workers as well.

"I think that workers will hopefully feel more empowered to speak up when they are experiencing wage and hour issues," said Duininck. "A lot of the workers that we talk with on this matter come to us as immigrant workers, as workers that don't feel like they have a lot of rights to begin with."

The changes follow Minnesota's wage-theft law that was adopted in 2019.

According to the union, Minnesota joins Illinois as the only other Midwestern state to weave in specific liability language for general contractors and developers.

Traditional business lending is tight these days following a series of recent bank collapses but one program is helping small businesses grow, focusing primarily on women or people of color.

The ICA Fund offers a 12-week program called "The Accelerator at ICA" which focuses on strategy for growth, personnel, capital, and investment readiness.

Youngwon Lee, founder and CEO of Dokkaebier, an Asian-inspired craft brewery in Oakland, started the business in 2020 and now employs 20 people.

"It is very difficult for us to get opportunities or advice or help as a minority-owned startup," Lee acknowledged. "It's a great opportunity. They connect us with advisers, and actually give us a real-life practical advice and then walk you through the system to be more ready to grow, as well as take investment."

Once participants complete the program, they are eligible for seed money. Last year the ICA Fund served 117 Bay Area businesses, investing $2.4 million into 18 companies. The ICA Fund's business accelerator accepts applications four times a year and the next one is open now.

Allison Kelly, CEO of the ICA Fund, said participants join a cohort of peers and receive one-on-one mentoring with a series of high-caliber advisers.

"For entrepreneurs of color and women entrepreneurs especially, having a trusted network and a peer group helps build confidence, which is a big driver in business success," Kelly explained.

The program is funded by philanthropy and by the federal government. It is one of 10 nonprofit venture capital Certified Development Financial Institutions in the U.S., and the only one in California.


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