A waiter wears a face mask in an outdoor dining area outside of a restaurant during a snow storm on December 16, 2020 in New York City.
Noam Galai | Getty Images
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to exacerbate socioeconomic inequalities, black restaurant workers are feeling the effects, according to a new report.
During the pandemic, tips for black restaurant workers have declined more than tips for workers of other racial groups, according to a report by labor group One Fair Wage. Almost 90% of black workers said their tips had decreased by 50% or more. For comparison: 78% of all employees said that their tips had decreased by that much.
Approximately 4,100 workers in five states and Washington, DC participated in the survey, which was conducted by phone and email from October through January.
Although black workers make up the majority of the tipped service industry, they are also the lowest earners, according to the report, which examined government data and the results of their survey, among other things.
Even before Covid-19, the Black Food Service employees stated that they received less tips on average than their white colleagues. Some only make $ 10 an hour.
Covid-19 has also been an ongoing threat to her health and wellbeing. According to the survey, more black workers knew someone who had or died from the disease than others, which put black workers at risk for Covid-19 at work and at home.
Black workers, like other workers, reported an increase in sexual harassment during the pandemic, including #MaskualHarrassment, a term used to describe male customers asking women to remove their mask and the number of tips they give based on how they look Determine wife. Forty percent of restaurant workers surveyed said they were victims of sexual harassment in the workplace during the pandemic.
Eight out of ten workers reported hostile reactions to health protocol enforcement, which had an impact on the number of tips received. But slightly more black workers, around 86%, have seen this.
“Sometimes when you ask a client to put on a mask or step back a little, they get angry and go out of their way to get closer to you or touch you to make you feel uncomfortable,” said one respondent in the report.
The report takes place amid a growing discussion about raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. President Joe Biden’s proposal would more than double the current minimum wage of $ 7.25 an hour, which has not been increased since 2009.
Correction: Eight out of ten workers reported hostile reactions to health protocol enforcement. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated who witnessed this trend. In addition, 78% of all employees said their tips had decreased by at least 50%. In a previous version, this statistic was reported incorrectly.
