SAN FRANCISCO —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Those contingencies arose this month after local industry leaders expressed concern that any mass movement among operators for adoptions of compensatory service surcharges could run afoul of antitrust regulators. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
An estimated 100 local operators gathered March 15 at Tres Agaves restaurant for a meeting hosted by its owners to share ideas about how to deal with the recently enacted citywide minimum wage of $9.14 per hour, which increases annually with inflation, and a new requirement that employers provide paid sick leave to all employees, whether sick or not, at the rate of one hour’s pay for every 30 hours worked. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Also looming as a profit-eater is a pending city requirement for employer-funded universal health insurance—a mandate that has been challenged in court by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, or GGRA. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Exacerbating the labor inflation is the fact that California does not allow employers to credit any tips toward their minimum-wage obligation. Many operators regard the state’s adoption of a tip credit as a political impossibility, despite industry lobbyists’ vows to continue pushing for a credit. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
The result of the mandates has been a steady increase in menu prices citywide, and the adoption by a few operators of service charges ranging from 3 percent to 18 percent. But many operators say they have reached the limit on what consumers will pay. Some are predicting that San Francisco’s status as a hotbed for innovative independent restaurants will begin to erode. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
“Our problem is that we’re not on a level playing field with the rest of the state,” said Jeffrey Pollack, owner of Nick’s Lighthouse on Fisherman’s Wharf and a second-generation restaurateur. “My father used to say, ‘Don’t price yourself out of business,’ but that’s exactly what the city is forcing us to do.” —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Eric Rubin, managing partner of Tres Agaves, said the restaurant hosted the meeting because “people are at their wits’ end.” —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
“We have a big bar and we sell a lot of tequila, but smaller restaurants without that bar business are going to go under,” he said. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Operators at the meeting compared strategies that have included the additions of surcharges, which some restaurants have embraced as preferable to guest-alienating price hikes because customers presumably would feel entitled to reduce their tips by an amount equal to the tacked-on service levy. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Proponents of such charges also say they can be channeled to non-tipped staff, though opponents caution that California’s strict labor laws limit tip disbursements and note that surcharges are taxable. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Meeting participants were careful to paint the various options being discussed as informational only, for fear that a perception that any one plan was being proposed could lead to charges of illegal price-fixing. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Mark Pastore, owner of Incanto Restaurant and Wine Bar, imposed a 5-percent service charge about three years ago, in part to address what he felt were pay inequities. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Many California operators complain that, without a tip credit, minimum-wage hikes equally increase the pay of servers, who frequently are restaurants’ most highly compensated workers, making it more difficult for employers to boost the pay levels of back-of-the-house hourly staffers. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
On Pastore’s menu, customers are alerted that the mandatory surcharge “enables us to share the rewards of serving you with non-tipped employees.” Guests who typically tip 20 percent now tend to leave 15-percent gratuities, he said. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Though the levy is called a service charge, it goes toward health care benefits for the kitchen staff, said Pastore, who calls it a “do-it-yourself tip credit.” —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
The restaurant does pay sales taxes on the service charge, however, and operators that use such funds directly as wages for kitchen staffers may also have to pay a payroll tax. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Pastore, however, said that he is one of only a few operators that have added a service charge. He said that some restaurateurs “seem to think politicians will solve their problems, and I just don’t think that’ll happen.” —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Other operators at the meeting said surcharges were not the answer. “I’m against a service charge,” said Pollack of Nick’s Lighthouse. “It puts up even more barriers for people coming into the city, and it penalizes the customer.” —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Participants did agree, however, that San Francisco’s restaurant industry needed a more unified campaign to help educate the dining public about the impact of the recent voter initiatives. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Kevin Westlye, executive director of the GGRA, said one suggestion was some sort of planned “shut down” of restaurants for a day or longer, if necessary, in a symbolic effort to grab the attention of local voters and lawmakers. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
“There’s a lot of anger out there, and we need to do more than just complain,” Westlye said. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Tres Agaves’ Rubin, who said any strike should include a protest march, estimated that the loss of business for one day would pale in comparison with the estimated $250,000 labor cost spike he expects at his restaurant this year. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
“If we do a march, we’d also try to get all our employees involved,” he said. “We need a cohesive effort.” —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Westlye said a task force was being created to look at other solutions, such as the possibility of local legislation that would cap inflation increases on the new minimum wage for tipped employees. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors this month is expected to approve an extension of the deadline for employer contributions to the city’s universal health insurance fund. Lawmakers have moved to delay implementation from July until January 2008. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
Employers with more than 50 workers that do not offer health benefits will be required to contribute a minimum of $1.11 to $1.68 per hour per employee. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
The GGRA has sued to block the mandate, charging that it conflicts with federal law governing health care benefits. —Frustrated by government- and voter-mandated increases in labor costs, restaurateurs here are mulling a possible “strike” and a protest march to raise awareness about their plight.
