This Restaurant's 'Close The Gap' Fee Has Reddit Divided
Wages have always been a hot topic, but since the pandemic, Americans have become more and more divided on the subject. Many people argue that minimum wage should be increased to make up for the fact that cost of living has gone up; others argue that wages are fine as they are and people should just work harder.
While politicians battle it out behind closed doors, some restaurants have taken steps to give at least the appearance of progress. McDonald's, for example, increased its starting pay at company-owned establishments to $11 for crew and $15 for managers. As the New York Times notes, this move is primarily motivated by the need for more workers, not generosity.
As Vox points out, there are countless examples of essential workers being praised and yet simultaneously underpaid and underappreciated. In the case of fast food workers, they still have to show up at McDonald's to make your Big Mac, regardless of the pandemic continuing to rage around us. One Boston restaurant has implemented a controversial new method to try and improve these conditions.
If you value your workers, pay them accordingly
When a notice from Boston restaurant Veggie Galaxy was posted to Reddit's Kitchen Confidential subreddit, the thread blew up. The post praised Veggie Galaxy for implementing a 3% fee, which would in theory go to the kitchen staff, who aren't making tips like the servers. What's so bad about that?
More than 600 comments were left on the post, many of them attacking the restaurant. YellowFingerz said, "No, the restaurant should pay more." Business-Drag52 said, "Exactly. Just up the menu price of each item by 3% and reflect that into the cooks' hourly wages. Idk why it's so hard of a concept for restaurant owners." Amshif86 said, "I saw this and thought how this is just a way for slime ball owners to perpetrate not paying a decent wage and passing those costs onto the customer."
Other Redditors said their restaurants split tips evenly among servers and kitchen staff. Still, others said wages shouldn't be determined by how busy a restaurant is, as Veggie Galaxy's statement seems to suggest. Unfortunately, it seems that the issue of restaurant wages is far from being solved.