Posted on 03/14/2015 6:54:42 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Seattle is about to embark on a civic experiment that most experts predict will be an economic disaster; a $15 an hour minimum wage is set to go into effect on April 1st. And some restuarants in the city have already shuttered their doors and are either going out of business or moving to friendlier climes.
This was entirely predictable - and was predicted when the measure passed the Seattle city council. Restuarants are particularly sensitive to this sort of increase in wages since most of their employees are paid at the minimum, and such a large percentage of their operating costs go to labor.
Washington Restaurant Associations Anthony Anton puts it this way: Its not a political problem; its a math problem.
He estimates that a common budget breakdown among sustaining Seattle restaurants so far has been the following: 36 percent of funds are devoted to labor, 30 percent to food costs and 30 percent go to everything else (all other operational costs). The remaining 4 percent has been the profit margin, and as a result, in a $700,000 restaurant, he estimates that the average restauranteur in Seattle has been making $28,000 a year.
With the minimum wage spike, however, he says that if restaurant owners made no changes, the labor cost in quick service restaurants would rise to 42 percent and in full service restaurants to 47 percent.
Restaurant owners, expecting to operate on thinner margins, have tried to adapt in several ways including higher menu prices, cheaper, lower-quality ingredients, reduced opening times, and cutting work hours and firing workers, according to The Seattle Times and Seattle Eater magazine. As the Washington Policy Center points out, when these strategies are not enough, businesses close, workers lose their jobs and the neighborhood loses a prized amenity.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“There was always some clown who would request a totally obscure song”
As a musician with a twisted sense of humor, I would request songs. No matter what kind of band, Rock/Blues/Country/Polka/Jazz, I would request “Honey” and “Feelings”, then laugh my butt off at the looks on the band member’s faces!
A very good friend of mine was a long time waitress in a Pizza Hut in Rock Hill. She said she did too well in tips and the hours suited her. She was a super nice people person who was my friend at a time when I didn’t have many and was really messed up in a lot of ways. She died unexpectedly a few years ago. RIP Janice.
They’ve been so indoctrinated that they wouldn’t believe it because.....evil corporations. Even if it’s a Mom & Pop shop. Still something fishy about “folks” making a profit.
Unions are the ones pushing this minimum wage crap.
Most people don’t know that those pushing the min wage increases #1 don’t give a damn about low wage workers, and #2 already make way over Min wage. In fact they couldn’t care less if every one of the minimum wage workers lose their job!
Why? Because many union contracts have a clause that automatically raise their wages when the minimum wage goes up.
A common clause would say...lazy communist employee ‘A’ will get $27 per hour, OR... 3 three times the minimum wage plus $3.58 per hour for the duration of this contract.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who benefits most if minimum wage is raised by $2 and hour, communist slug A’s wage just went up by $6 an hour instantly! Who cares if the poor schmuck making minimum wage gets fired, we get more money and union dues increase!
Double the minimum wage to $15 and commie bastard ‘A’ just got a $22.50 hour raise! PS...commie slug ‘A’ likely is a public sector employee, so you’ll be paying that increase.
Unions are like baby seals, liberals think they’re cute, I think they should be clubbed at birth, skinned, and their carcasses’ fed to the sharks.
I am sort of retired now.
But I teach, and am the music director/bass player/composer for a Biker Church.
And the old ‘rules” still are in effect! LOL!
Not only are they notoriously tight-fisted with tips, they are rude and tremendously demanding to wait staff.
Yes. That is EXACTLY what they are doing.
“TIPS” are undocumented income.
My wife is in the business. Good service gets 20% every time.
Yes. I have seen the trend since the 90’s.
Sure Can! LOL!
Stuff like this drops the purchasing power of the dollar because all it does is add to inflation.
Let see how long this will take to isolate Seattle then watch it dry up. As city fathers complain about nearby communities profiting from their collective stupidity. Or complain about an underground economy that springs up like mushrooms run mostly by illegals and goes out of control.
Won’t be just restaurants it’s the tourist industry as a whole. Kiss the convention business goodbye. Nobody will want to go there because its too expensive and not worth it. If your a Senior living there you’re so screwed.
Liberals & Math = Oil & Water
” But can you do Freebird? “
Once we had some drunken girl screaming for Freebird. It wasn’t part of our song list, but we were all vaguely familiar with the melody. I got all my bottleneck slides out of my steel guitar seat, and passed them around. We had 3 slide guitars, slide fiddle, and slide bass! And we al sorta played the melody,,,, sort of. It was hysterical. Almost wet myself I was laughing so hard!
Good News!
MOOCHelle is now demanding that restaurants list ALL the ingredients, calories, fat grams, carbohydrates, sodium, milk and milk derivatives, tree nut products, peanuts, sugars, starches, MSG, eggs, lactose, dextrose, and fiber on every item on the menu.
And don’t even get me started on the school lunches!
None of this would be a problem if Mrs. O would set an example, but every picture of her is either a rear view of her commodious caboose, or a full-frontal of her with her face stuffed with french fries.
Seriously, though, I am sorry about your gastro-intestinal issues, and pray for your health! :-)
Naughty YOU!
http://nextepsystems.com/who-we-serve/restaurants/13
next wave restaurant kiosks
What it really looks like.
Isn’t that the truth. How is this even legal?
36% to 42% is a 16.66% increase NOT 6%.
Agreed. My situation a few years ago was not good. The company I worked for went under and I was out of work and literally starving for a few months. I finally managed to land a job working as a General Laborer in the Construction industry. I made minimum wage, worked extremely hard all day long with one hour off for lunch and came home at the end of the day so worn out that it was all I could do to heat a can of stew before dropping off to sleep, only to repeat everything the next day.
Now this state has raised the minimum wage to 10 dollars per hour for everyone, no exceptions, which is notably higher than I was paid working to exhaustion in a difficult and demanding work environment. But they think the wait staff should get this and tips besides? I do not seem to recall getting any "tips" other than advice for busting me keister not too long ago.
There is a Subway Sandwich place not too far away where I can watch them prepare whatever I select from the menu, and where there are no Jesse Jakson types to spit in your food if they don't like you. I go there if I feel like eating out.
Other than that, I'll make something at home rather than go to any restaurant that expects any "tips" at all, and of the people I know trying to keep their small businesses afloat, do NOT believe that being forced to pay that much of a minimum wage is worth it. They are forced to let people go or close their doors.
"Tips" are a ridiculous concept anyway. I challenge ANY restaurant worker to make a valid claim that I ever worked any less hard than them, without ever receiving a "tip". I will frequent restaurants again only when they eliminate the "tip" demands once and for all.
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