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In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the history of tipping in the United States. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: · Tipping is once again at the center of debates about service, labor, and consumerism. Neil referenced this Phil Magness essay, and Natalia cited this New York Times piece by Michele Alexander. We all drew on this Mother Jones review of Saru Jayamaran's book Forked: A New Standard for American Dining. In our regular closing feature, What's Making History: · Natalia shared Michael Schulman's New Yorker piece, “Orange is the New Black Signalled the Rot Inside the Streaming Economy.” · Neil recommended the forthcoming Broadway show, Here Lies Love. · Niki discussed this episode of the podcast If Books Could Kill.
As president of One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley, Saru Jayaraman has fought for a reimagining of tipped industries. She argues that at just $2.13 an hour, what tipped-wage workers are paid is unlivable on its own and that, unsurprisingly, the people in these jobs are often society's most vulnerable: undocumented, BIPOC, and women workers who already make cents on the dollar of their white male counterparts. In place of the 30-year-old subminimum wage, Jayaraman has worked tirelessly to realize a fair living wage for these essential workers. In the wake of COVID-19, she says it is more obvious than ever that changes need to be made if we want to keep everyone's head above water. Jayaraman's message is unwavering—our drivers, delivery workers, servers and nail technicians deserve to have a livelihood. At INFORUM and alongside service industry experts Chef Dominique Crenn and Angela Glover Blackwell, Jayaraman will lay out what changes need to be made and how we can achieve a fair, livable wage for everyone in our communities. SPEAKERS Angela Glover Blackwell Founder in Residence, PolicyLink; Host, "Radical Imagination" Podcast Dominique Crenn Chef and Owner, Atelier Crenn Saru Jayaraman President, One Fair Wage; Co-Founder, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United; Director, Food Labor Research Ctr., UC Berkeley; Author, Behind the Kitchen Door, Forked: A New Standard for American Dining, & One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 18th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As president of One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley, Saru Jayaraman has fought for a reimagining of tipped industries. She argues that at just $2.13 an hour, what tipped-wage workers are paid is unlivable on its own and that, unsurprisingly, the people in these jobs are often society's most vulnerable: undocumented, BIPOC, and women workers who already make cents on the dollar of their white male counterparts. In place of the 30-year-old subminimum wage, Jayaraman has worked tirelessly to realize a fair living wage for these essential workers. In the wake of COVID-19, she says it is more obvious than ever that changes need to be made if we want to keep everyone's head above water. Jayaraman's message is unwavering—our drivers, delivery workers, servers and nail technicians deserve to have a livelihood. At INFORUM and alongside service industry experts Chef Dominique Crenn and Angela Glover Blackwell, Jayaraman will lay out what changes need to be made and how we can achieve a fair, livable wage for everyone in our communities. SPEAKERS Angela Glover Blackwell Founder in Residence, PolicyLink; Host, "Radical Imagination" Podcast Dominique Crenn Chef and Owner, Atelier Crenn Saru Jayaraman President, One Fair Wage; Co-Founder, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United; Director, Food Labor Research Ctr., UC Berkeley; Author, Behind the Kitchen Door, Forked: A New Standard for American Dining, & One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on October 18th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Eric sat down with Saru Jayaraman five weeks and a lifetime ago. Few of us fully appreciated the implications of the COVID crisis at the time, but the conversation centers on the very issues the crisis has raised around service workers and equity. Saru is an attorney and activist who is changing the way our country treats workers who are forced to rely on tips to make a living. Saru’s CV is about twelve pages long. She is president of One Fair Wage, which fights for one fair minimum wage for all workers in the U.S. (and which, by the way, has put together an Emergency Coronavirus Tipped and Service Workers Support Fund that you can look into here). She co-founded the Restaurant Opportunities Center United, she directs the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley, where she is also an adjunct professor of public policy, and she has written several books, including: Forked: A New Standard for American Dining; Behind the Kitchen Door; Bite Back: People Taking on Corporate Food and Winning (to be released this month); and The New Urban Immigrant Work Force, which comes out in 2021. Saru is an extraordinary storyteller, a passionate speaker, and a fierce advocate for fairness in the food service industry. In this episode, you will be treated to a conversation that runs the gamut from how the vestiges of slavery are still supported by the restaurant industry to how food service corporations are dictating our democracy. She will absolutely knock your socks off. This isn’t an episode to skip.
Eric sat down with Saru Jayaraman five weeks and a lifetime ago. Few of us fully appreciated the implications of the COVID crisis at the time, but the conversation centers on the very issues the crisis has raised around service workers and equity. Saru is an attorney and activist who is changing the way our country treats workers who are forced to rely on tips to make a living. Saru’s CV is about twelve pages long. She is president of One Fair Wage, which fights for one fair minimum wage for all workers in the U.S. (and which, by the way, has put together an Emergency Coronavirus Tipped and Service Workers Support Fund that you can look into here). She co-founded the Restaurant Opportunities Center United, she directs the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley, where she is also an adjunct professor of public policy, and she has written several books, including: Forked: A New Standard for American Dining; Behind the Kitchen Door; Bite Back: People Taking on Corporate Food and Winning (to be released this month); and The New Urban Immigrant Work Force, which comes out in 2021. Saru is an extraordinary storyteller, a passionate speaker, and a fierce advocate for fairness in the food service industry. In this episode, you will be treated to a conversation that runs the gamut from how the vestiges of slavery are still supported by the restaurant industry to how food service corporations are dictating our democracy. She will absolutely knock your socks off. This isn’t an episode to skip.
0:08 – Coronavirus outbreak shuts down large events, how will it impact workers? Joelle Gamble (@joelle_gamble) is an economist and organizer. She is a principal at the Reimagining Capitalism initiative at Omidyar Network and is on the Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Institute. Her latest piece in the Nation Magazine is “A Survival Guide for the Coronavirus Economy” 0:18 – Saru Jayaraman (@SaruJayaraman) is the President of One Fair Wage, Co-Founder of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Saru authored Behind the Kitchen Door, a national bestseller. And her most recent book is Forked: A New Standard for American Dining. 0:34 – The US and the Taliban have penned a peace deal in Afghanistan, but the violence and political conflict continues. For more on the ongoing crisis, and how it impacts women in Afghanistan, we speak with Sonali Kolhatkar (@RUWithSonali), host and producer of Rising Up with Sonali now airing at 3 pm on KPFA Weekdays and co-director of the Afghan Women's Mission, a US-based non-profit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). (Photo: Women line up in Kabul, Afghanistan, 2006 / Wikipedia ) The post Out of work: COVID-19 shuts down events and schools, what should be done to help workers?; Plus: The US-Taliban peace deal in Afghanistan and impacts on women with journalist Sonali Kolhatkar appeared first on KPFA.
Food labor expert Saru Jayaraman joined us earlier this month to expose the lie of marginal productivity, and to reveal how it’s used to take advantage of workers. For the sake of time, we cut a fascinating tangent on the minimum wage and the restaurant industry from that episode, but it’s so insightful we just had to share it with you. Catch it here, with Saru and Goldy’s full conversation. Saru Jayaraman is the Co-Founder and President of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Saru authored ‘Behind the Kitchen Door’, a national bestseller, and her most recent book is ‘Forked: A New Standard for American Dining.’ Twitter: @SaruJayaraman Saru Jayaraman: How Restaurant Workers Are Inheriting a Legacy of Slavery in the U.S.: https://bioneers.org/saru-jayaraman-restaurant-workers-inheriting-legacy-slavery-u-s-ztvz1712/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The theory of marginal product of labor says that every worker is paid exactly what they’re worth—the value that their labor generates. Employers cite marginal productivity to legitimize paying the lowest wages possible, but it’s just another trickle-down scam. Economist Marshall Steinbaum and food labor expert Saru Jayaraman join us this week to expose the lie of marginal productivity and show how it’s been used to exploit workers for centuries. Marshall Steinbaum is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Utah and a Senior Fellow of Higher Education Finance at the Jain Family Institute. He studies market power in labor markets and its policy implications. He was previously a Senior Economist and Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, and a Research Economist at the Center for Equitable Growth. Twitter: @Econ_Marshall Saru Jayaraman is the Co-Founder and President of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Saru authored ‘Behind the Kitchen Door’, a national bestseller, and her most recent book is ‘Forked: A New Standard for American Dining.’ Twitter: @SaruJayaraman Further reading No, Productivity Does Not Explain Income: https://evonomics.com/no-productivity-does-not-explain-income/ ROC United Diners’ Guide App: https://rocunited.org/diners-guide/ Saru Jayaraman: How Restaurant Workers Are Inheriting a Legacy of Slavery in the U.S.: https://bioneers.org/saru-jayaraman-restaurant-workers-inheriting-legacy-slavery-u-s-ztvz1712/ Evidence and Analysis of Monopsony Power, Including But Not Limited To, In Labor Markets: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_comments/2018/08/ftc-2018-0054-d-0006-151013.pdf Antitrust and Labor Market Power: https://econfip.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Antitrust-and-Labor-Market-Power.pdf Why Are Economists Giving Piketty the Cold Shoulder? http://bostonreview.net/class-inequality/marshall-steinbaum-why-are-economists-giving-piketty-cold-shoulder Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What up! If you found this post by the podcast, the link to the survey is below. It's totally anonymous and I appreciate you being honest and open. We will only progress with authentic and real conversations. I want to inspire dialogue that leads to meaningful change and a shift in our restaurant culture. #MeToo isn't a moment, it's a movement. Thank you for being a part of that change. If you haven't heard the podcast yet, check it out and take the survey as well. Here's a link* to a great book I read recently on sexual harassment in the food business: Forked: A New Standard for American Dining Here's what I cover in the podcast on how men can manage in the midst of the #metoo movement: Shut up Ask questions and listen Do something Pretty simple, huh? Let me know what ya think and tell a friend, I appreciate it. I'm good with a nice healthy debate if you don't agree with me. I also appreciate knowing if you think I may be on to something. I love the feedback! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/89W9KGQ (Click here to take the quick and anonymous survey.)
Saru Jayaraman is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United) and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. After 9/11, together with displaced World Trade Center workers, she co-founded ROC in New York, organizing restaurant workers to win workplace justice campaigns, conduct research and policy work, partner with responsible restaurants, and launch cooperatively-owned restaurants. ROC now has 10,000 members in 19 cities nationwide. The story of Saru and ROC is chronicled in the book The Accidental American. Saru is a graduate of Yale Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She was profiled in the New York Times "Public Lives" section in 2005, and was named one of Crain's "40 Under 40" in 2008, 1010 WINS's "Newsmaker of the Year," and one of New York Magazine's "Influentials" of New York City. Saru co-edited The New Urban Immigrant Workforce, and wrote Behind the Kitchen Door, and, most recently, Forked: A New Standard for American Dining. In this episode, Saru talks with Chelsea about the struggle for pay and decent working conditions in restaurants, the ROC’s innovative collaborations in labor organizing, and the reasons people who like good food should care about labor politics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Did you know that servers and other tipped restaurant workers survive on wages as low as $2.13/hour? That’s the tipped minimum wage, which has remained measly in many states since the early 1990s—and it’s keeping people in poverty. Our guest on this week’s episode, Saru Jayaraman, advocates for better treatment and pay for the country's 11 million restaurant workers. Her latest book, Forked: A New Standard of American Dining, examines the fascinating history of tipping in the United States and how restaurants can take the higher road when it comes to labor standards. We also expose some cracks in the farm-to-table movement, and catch up with some Bay Area restaurateurs about what life is like after abolishing tipping.
Saru Jayaraman is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. After 9/11, together with displaced World Trade Center workers, she co-founded ROC, which now has more than 18,000 worker members, 150 employer partners, and several thousand consumer members in over 30 cities nationwide. The story of Saru and her co-founder’s work founding ROC has been chronicled in the book The Accidental American. Saru is a graduate of Yale Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She was profiled in the New York Times “Public Lives” section in 2005, named one of Crain’s “40 Under 40” in 2008, was 1010 Wins’ “Newsmaker of the Year” and New York Magazine’s “Influentials” of New York City. She was listed in CNN’s “Top 10 Visionary Women” and recognized as a Champion of Change by the White House in 2014, and a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award in 2015. Saru authored Behind the Kitchen Door (Cornell University Press, 2013), a national bestseller, and has appeared on many news programs. Her new book is Forked: A New Standard for American Dining (Oxford University Press). “There’s a lot of momentum to organize whatever way, whether it’s through a union or otherwise, just to get together and collectively demand change, because it’s just too long in coming, it has to be now.” [32:45] – Saru Jayaraman
Saru Jayaraman is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. After 9/11, together with displaced World Trade Center workers, she co-founded ROC, which now has more than 18,000 worker members, 150 employer partners, and several thousand consumer members in over 30 cities nationwide. The story of Saru and her co-founder’s work founding ROC has been chronicled in the book The Accidental American. Saru is a graduate of Yale Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She was profiled in the New York Times “Public Lives” section in 2005, named one of Crain’s “40 Under 40” in 2008, was 1010 Wins’ “Newsmaker of the Year” and New York Magazine’s “Influentials” of New York City. She was listed in CNN’s “Top 10 Visionary Women” and recognized as a Champion of Change by the White House in 2014, and a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award in 2015. Saru authored Behind the Kitchen Door (Cornell University Press, 2013), a national bestseller, and has appeared on many news programs. Her new book is Forked: A New Standard for American Dining (Oxford University Press). “There’s a lot of momentum to organize whatever way, whether it’s through a union or otherwise, just to get together and collectively demand change, because it’s just too long in coming, it has to be now.” [32:45] – Saru Jayaraman