“Wake up! Wake up! Wake the fuck up!”
“What are you doing here? Go away!”
“Somebody just bombed the World Trade Center!”
“Oh my fucking god! Are you kidding me? My sister. Oh my sister!”
I had just come back from New York City the night before. I had spent a
week with my sister going to Barneys Warehouse Sale, wasting too much
money on coffee at Café Gitane and raiding for kitchen supplies at
Broadway Panhandler. I thought it was a good reward after 2 months of
grueling research in Europe. I went back to California refreshed and
rejuvenated.
All this
seemed completely trivial the next day. I staring dialing, 212… Damn. No
response. 212… 212… 212… Call mom. Maybe my sister called mom. No news.
Worry worry. What about her husband? Doesn’t he work in Tribeca or was
it Soho? Can’t remember. Dial again. Nothing. My friend had some secret
phone pass number that should work. Dial…wait…dial. Oh thank God. You’re
all right. Where’s Tom? He’s all right. What about everyone else? Tom’s
family? I’m calling Mom and telling her you’re OK. Don’t move from your
apartment. Keep me informed….
As we all witnessed in what can only be our generation’s
version of the Kennedy assassination, 9/11 has been burnt into our
minds. The images, the stories and the sorrow have occupied our national
narrative now for a decade. Persons we never heard of became objects of
scorn and hate. Places we never been to became headline news. Words we
never knew became commonplace. In a twisted version of the Kevin Bacon
Game, we all know someone that has been affected by 9/11.
And after Iran, Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan, the Taliban, jihad, and
Al Qaeda, many of us are still trying to grasp the meaning or
senlessness of 9/11. The statistics bear out the damage, but not the
suffering. 2,819 dead. 343 firefighters and paramedics killed. 19,858
body parts found. 3,051 children lost a parent. 146,100 jobs lost. 40.2
billion dollars in insurance claims. And on and on…
And yet in all the numbers there were still those that were forgotten. Seventy-three workers at Windows on the World on the 106th and 107th
floors of Tower One in the World Trade Center never got the
recognition. All low-wage immigrant service workers, they slipped
between the cracks of all the statistics. Many of them were illegally
employed. Most had few relatives in the New York vicinity. All the
workers had family members from the 4 corners of the earth: Colombia,
Mexico, China, Ecuador, Brazil, etc. While all families were eligible
for the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, many of them, due to
language, diplomatic or economic circumstances never did receive their
share of the victim funds. Furthermore, many relatives couldn’t even
penetrate the legal maze of paperwork that compensation involved.
For those that survived the attacks, their own nightmare was beginning.
Left with no job, no health care, no benefits, they were left on their
own to navigate their lives post-9/11. Unlike high profile businesses
such as the investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald or city employees, such as
the New York Fire Department or the New York Police Department, there
was no safety net for those working at Windows on the World.
In a dirty little secret that everyone in the restaurant industry
knows, restaurant workers, and not just those working at the Windows on
the World, live with very few benefits, almost no health coverage,
little financial stability[1]
and few workplace rights (if any, and many times, those rights are
routinely ignored or violated). Part of the problem lies in the
unskilled and low-skilled nature of restaurant work. Waiters,
dishwashers, line and prep cooks, clean-up crew, busboys, hosts, and
bartenders are all the backbone of the restaurant business, and they are
paid marginally compared to the physical and stress demanded. And
unlike construction workers or other unskilled labor, many of these
laborers are non-union,[2] thus lack any power to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.
The other part of the problem lies with restaurant owners.[3].
Food is only about 38-42% of the total budget of a restaurant. The rest
of the money goes to staff and overhead. In the end, restaurants keep
about $.04 of every dollar spent at a restaurant. This being said, it is
no surprise that 75% of restaurants go out of business after 4 years.
Considering that labor enforcement is weak and profit margins are low,
there is every single incentive to cheat the system by underpaying
workers.
And then there is the documentation problem. Simply put, many restaurant workers are illegal.
And no, it’s not just taco joints, greasy spoons and Chinese
restaurants. Some restaurants are fooled by false documentation. Others
look the other way in terms of false documentation. And then there are
those who purposely hire illegal workers. In any case, illegal workers
are caught in a legal catch-22 when in comes to unpaid wages or worker
abuse. Complain and they get fired or possibly reported. Don’t complain
and they get treated like ****.
So what is one to do? Don’t eat at restaurants? Well, I for one could
never do that – I just like food too damn much. One solution is to
check on the web which restaurants have the best employment records or
policies.[4] Another solution is to support the Restaurant Opportunities Center
of New York. Founded by surviving staff of Windows on the World
Restaurant, the organization advocates on behalf of restaurant workers,
creates job training and development opportunities for restaurant, and
lobbies for better working conditions for all restaurant workers.[5]
Third, push your Congressperson for immigration reform. And what you
can do immediately? Pay a good tip for service. Restaurant workers work
grueling hours under pretty stressful conditions so you can have a good
meal. They deserve to be remembered every day – not just on 9/11.
Windows on the World’s Classic Manhattan (adapted from Dale DeGroff)
We all could use one today.
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
2 1/2 oz. rye
lemon twist for garnish
In
a cocktail shaker, combine 4 ice cubes, sweet vermouth and rye and
shake until cold. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with lemon
twist.
Note: This blog post was originally published on 9/11/2011, however, as a tribute to those who served, survived and died during 9/11, I am reposting it. Considering the state of the US economy, the message has never been more pertinent to the brave workers everywhere that helped New York City recover and move on.
[1]
A 2005 study by the Restaurant Opportunities Center in NYC reported
that 60% of restaurant workers earn wages at the poverty level. Since
the recession of 2008, that number has surely increased.
[2]
This is not to suggest there are not unions for the service industry,
but only 1% of the NYC restaurant workforce is unionized. Amazingly, 43
of the 73 workers that died at Windows on the World were members of the
hotel and service industry union, UNITE HERE.
The restaurant industry has special challenges to labor organizers due
to the fragmented nature of the restaurant industry. Unlike hotels,
casinos and the like, 93% of restaurants employ less than 50 workers,
according to the National Restaurant Association (think about the local
taco joint or the Thai place around the corner – NOT Daniel). Trying to
build a coalition around small business requires an immense amount of
resources that unions don’t simply have (even thought the mafia seems to
do it well…).
[3]
Once again, this is not to suggest that all restaurants are guilty of
this. Many of NYC’s best restaurants hire legally and pay wages
according to law. Some of them even give their workers health insurance
and benefits, most notably at Tom Colicchio’s Craft and Danny Meyer’s
Shake Shack (Bouley also gives health benefits, but no paid sick days or
vacation. Boo!). But several high profile restaurants, including Del
Posto, Morimoto, Alto as well as chefs/restaurateurs Mario Batali and
Bobby Flay have been accused of stiffing their working stiffs in the
kitchen (Wall Street Journal, August 31, 2011. For the article, click here.)
Many restaurateurs claim that there is confusion in the law regarding
the distribution of wages, especially to those that regularly receive
tips, such as bartenders and wait-staff. (According to US wage law,
those workers who receive tips on the job are paid less than the minimum
wage.) Dishwashers and other staff just get screwed at minimum wage (or
less).
[6] If you are outside New York, Restaurant Opportunities Center United works on a national basis for restaurant workers rights, with branches in Michigan and Chicago.
