Quote of the Day, June 16, 2012
More than 86 percent of workers surveyed reported earning low or poverty wages. Ironically, food workers face higher
levels of food insecurity, or the inability to afford to eat, than the rest of the U.S. workforce. In fact, food system workers
use food stamps at double the rate of the rest of the U.S. workforce. They also reported working in environments with
health and safety violations, long work hours with few breaks, and lack of access to health benefits.–excerpted from June 2012 Food Chain Workers Alliance report, Hands That Feed Us.
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, the nation’s only national restaurants workers organization, reports:
- There are over 10 million workers in the restaurant industry
- Over half of these workers earn less than the federal poverty line for a family of three
- Over a third of restaurant workers have had to work “off the clock” without pay
- Almost 44% of restaurant workers have worked overtime for less than the legally mandated overtime wage
- 9 out of 10 restaurant workers have no paid sick days
- Almost 90% of restaurant workers have no employer-provided health insurance
- People of color and women tend to be concentrated in the lowest-paying jobs in the restaurant industry
