From Asheville Sustainable Restaurant Workforce
Press Release
Asheville’s independent and franchise restaurants are singing a happy tune these days. Last October was the record breaking month that put our city on the road to it’s best tourism year ever. There are a lot of culinary options for local and out of town diners to consider in this designated food utopia. Emphasis is placed on a sustainable food movement and farm to table dining. But what’s going on behind the kitchen door? What are the experiences of Asheville’s many cooks, servers, and support staff?
Restaurant workers are often victims of wage theft, the illegal underpayment or non-payment of workers’ wages. Many varieties of wage theft are common in the restaurant business. It can be unintentional, as when an employer is not aware of all the complex labor laws; it can also be deliberate. A report last year from the N.C. Justice Center noted that in 2012 Buncombe County ranked eighth in the state for reported wage theft cases, with 114. The same report found that wage theft in North Carolina is prevalent in low-wage sectors like the restaurant industry, one of the industries that form the backbone of Asheville’s economy. Examples of wage theft are unpaid overtime, working “off the clock”, and misappropriation of tips received by servers.
Asheville Sustainable Restaurant Workforce, or ASRW seeks to be the voice of Asheville’s restaurant workers. We are a local, worker founded advocacy group whose mission is to improve the economic and human rights of full service restaurant workers in Asheville, NC through awareness, advocacy, and action.
We at ASRW believe awareness and empowerment are key to addressing wage theft in our city and ASRW has teamed up with NC Justice Center to host a Restaurant Workers Rights Workshop. It will be held on Monday, February 23, 2015 at the West Asheville Library Community Room from 3-6pm. A facilitator from NC Justice Center will give a presentation followed by a question and answer session. This workshop will also give workers an opportunity to meet others and share their experiences.
For more information about our organization, please visit our website ASRW.org. You can become a member, find resources to redress your grievances and take our anonymous survey. We have produced a video for tipped employees explaining NC wage and hour law. It can be viewed on our website. Join our Facebook group for updates and to RSVP for the workshop. Asheville Sustainable Restaurant Workforce, building a chair to demand a seat at the table.
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