Michelin-starred Lazy Betty joins push to protect immigrant restaurant workers

Caption

Saru Jayaraman speaks at the launch of the Solidarity Restaurants campaign in New York City on June 20.

Credit: Solidarity Restaurants

A growing coalition of restaurants is pushing back against recent federal immigration enforcement operations. The Solidarity Restaurants campaign, launched last week in New York, now includes more than 100 participating restaurants nationwide. The initiative, a partnership of One Fair Wage, a nonprofit organization that advocates for workers’ rights, and Presente, an organizing group focused on empowering Latinx communities, offers legal resources for businesses and workers, while also advocating for fair wages and safer working conditions for service industry staff.

Among the Atlanta businesses joining the campaign is Lazy Betty, a 1-star Michelin restaurant known for its upscale tasting menus. Chef and owner Ronald Hsu says the decision to sign on was rooted in creating a safe and inclusive workplace.

“We want to provide a livable wage and a safe work environment,” Hsu said, “making sure that we have a diverse work staff and culture.”

Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, says restaurant workers face overlapping challenges: an atmosphere of fear as a result of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeting business and threat to funding for federal benefits like SNAP and Medicaid that service industry workers benefit from.

“Restaurant workers use Medicaid and food stamps at double the rate of other workers because of a horrific sub-minimum wage for tipped workers that exist here in Georgia, which means employers can pay workers as little as $2.13 an hour,” said Jayaraman.

Hsu and Jayaraman joined GPB's Pamela Kirkland on Morning Edition to discuss the campaign.

TRANSCRIPT

Pamela Kirkland: It's Morning Edition, I'm Pamela Kirkland. Last week, 100 restaurants signed on to the Solidarity Restaurants campaign. It's a network of restaurant owners wanting to protect their workers from recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Saru Jayaraman is co-founder and president of One Fair Wage, a nonprofit organization that advocates for workers' rights. And Ronald Hsu is an Atlanta chef and restaurateur and owner of Lazy Betty, who has signed on to the coalition. They both join me now. Thank you for being here.

Saru Jayaraman and Ronald Hsu: Thank you for having us. For having us

Pamela Kirkland: Saru, your group, along with Presente, an organizing group focused on empowering Latinx communities, decided to launch the coalition to provide legal resources to restaurant workers and owners facing detention by ICE. But separately, your group is also concerned about threats to federal support for programs like SNAP and Medicaid that service industry workers benefit from. Tell me more about the effort.

Saru Jayaraman: Solidarity Restaurants is an initiative of over a hundred great small business restaurant owners across the country that have come together, signed a pledge to stand in solidarity with restaurant workers who are under attack from multiple angles right now. On the one hand there are ICE raids, the restaurant industry is the largest employer of immigrant workers in the country, but on the other hand these workers' Medicaid and other benefits, food stamps, other benefits are being taken away. Millions of workers are about to lose their benefits. Restaurant workers use Medicaid and food stamps at double the rate of other workers because of a horrific sub-minimum wage for tipped workers that exists here in Georgia, which means employers can pay workers as little as $2.13 an hour in Georgia. It's a legacy of slavery, and it is another part of Solidarity Restaurants. The restaurants that are part of this coalition stand for workers not only to be safe, not only get benefits, but ultimately that they deserve an actual wage from their employer that is a livable, thriveable wage and allows them to survive. And maybe if more restaurants actually provided it, these workers wouldn't be as dependent on Medicaid and food stamps to begin with.

Pamela Kirkland: Ron, why did you decide to bring Lazy Betty into this coalition? What concerns did you have about immigration enforcement here in Georgia?

Ronald Hsu: I think one of the main values or goals that Solidarity is trying to reinforce is a safe workspace, and that was one of main reasons why we also do One Fair Wage. We want to provide a livable wage and a safe work environment, making sure that we have a good diverse work culture — work staff or staff and culture. And yeah, that's really it — just to benefit our employees and make sure they have a safe — safe place to work and can make a livable wage.

Pamela Kirkland: Saru, tell me about what you're hearing from restaurants around the country. Are they saying workers aren't showing up because they're afraid?

Saru Jayaraman: Yeah. I mean, look, that is so universal and so strong that Trump actually paused the raids on restaurants last week because in the big corporate restaurant chains, we're telling him, you are doing this and it's making it hard for us to operate. We're losing really good people and people are afraid to come to work and so our businesses are failing. The restaurant industry relies on immigrants more than any other industry. So what's beautiful about Solidarity Restaurants is that — those corporate restaurants spoke up to Trump. He listened for a minute and then he reversed. Now we're elevating the voices of small business restaurants, many of whom come from immigrant communities themselves, to say we need these workers. We cannot survive without these workers, we can't have a restaurant industry in Atlanta without these workers. So we stand with them and hopefully again, Trump will hear that it goes beyond big business. Small business also is calling for — for these raids to stop.

Pamela Kirkland: Ron, here in Atlanta, are you seeing more restaurants showing interest in joining the coalition?

Ronald Hsu: I think the momentum is building. I think any time you change a system that's been in use for decades and decades and decades, it's very hard to change minds. But I definitely see ripples here and there, and you know, the way you turn ripples into waves is you just keep pushing and chipping away, one little restaurant at a time.

Pamela Kirkland: Sara, what are your hopes for this campaign?

Saru Jayaraman: Two things, one, we want more employers to sign on and they can do that at solidarityrestaurants.org. Consumers can also play a really huge role here. They can support Lazy Betty and other restaurants that are already part of the coalition. You know, consumers should be supporting, particularly in this moment, employers who are committed to safe, thriveable, livable working conditions for their employees. So we encourage consumers to also go to SolidarityRestaurants.org and support the restaurants on that list.

Pamela Kirkland: That was Saru Jayaraman of One Fair Wage and Atlanta chef and restaurateur Ronald Hsu. Thank you both for joining me on Morning Edition.

Saru Jayaraman and Ronald Hsu: Thank you.

Pamela Kirkland: This is GPB.