HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.162
Reps. Hope, Rheingans, Andrews, Scott, Byrnes, Brixie,
Dievendorf, McFall, Coffia, Wilson, Wegela and Farhat offered the
following resolution:
1 A resolution to adopt a restaurant workers bill of rights.
2 Whereas, There are over four hundred thousand restaurant
3 workers in Michigan and over eleven million in the United States,
4 comprising approximately ten percent of the overall workforce on
5 the state and national levels; and
6 Whereas, Over sixty percent of American adults report working
7 in the restaurant industry at some point during their lives. Forty-
8 eight percent report having had their first regular job in a
9 restaurant; and
10 Whereas, The restaurant industry is very diverse. Fifty-four
11 percent of workers in the industry are women, nearly half are
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1 workers of color, and over twenty percent are immigrants; and
2 Whereas, Restaurant workers are more than twice as likely to
3 live in poverty than the general workforce, and access food stamps
4 at twice the rate of the overall workforce; and
5 Whereas, Michigan’s tipped minimum wage is just $3.84 per hour
6 and many employers do not offer health insurance; and
7 Whereas, Restaurant employees experience wage theft and other
8 violations of wage and hour laws at alarmingly high rates.
9 Restaurant workers are robbed of their wages by not being paid
10 overtime, having tips withheld, and being paid less than the
11 minimum wage. A U.S. Department of Labor investigation of over
12 nine thousand restaurants found that eighty-four percent of those
13 restaurants violated wage and hours laws; and
14 Whereas, The restaurant industry is filled with racism and
15 sexism. Restaurant workers experience racism not only from
16 customers, but also restaurant owners and management who deny
17 minorities employment and promotion. The rate of sexual harassment
18 among female restaurant workers is the highest of any industry,
19 with female workers filing sexual harassment charges at twice the
20 rate of the general workforce. One survey of restaurant workers
21 found that more than seventy percent of women reported having been
22 sexually harassed in the workplace; and
23 Whereas, Low wages, unjust working conditions, and lack of
24 access to meaningful health care coverage, including reproductive
25 healthcare, can significantly affect restaurant workers’ decisions
26 about pregnancy and whether to become a parent, and
27 disproportionally affects women and people of color; and
28 Whereas, The United States is currently the only member
29 country of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
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1 Development without a national paid family leave program and one of
2 only a few high-income countries without a national family
3 caregiving or medical leave policy. Most restaurant workers have no
4 guaranteed paid or unpaid leave. This leaves the vast majority of
5 restaurant workers to face the impossible choice between caring for
6 their newborn infant or retaining their employment; and
7 Whereas, In a survey of the impacts COVID-19 had on the
8 restaurant industry, sixty-eight percent of respondents said that
9 someone in their workplace had tested positive for COVID-19 as of
10 2021, and one in ten restaurant workers went to work with COVID-19
11 symptoms because of economic pressures including the risk of losing
12 income, lack of adequate sick leave, and fear of retaliation by
13 their employer; now, therefore, be it
14 Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we believe that
15 restaurant workers deserve to have their government work in
16 consultation, collaboration, and partnership with the restaurant
17 industry, labor unions, civil society groups, academia, and
18 businesses to ensure that all restaurant workers are entitled to
19 the following rights:
20 1. The right to economic stability and to be paid a livable and
21 fair wage.
22 2. The right to have access to safe and affordable housing.
23 3. The right to high-quality, affordable childcare.
24 4. The right to be economically secure in retirement.
25 5. The right to paid leave for illness, to care for family
26 members, and to welcome new children into their families.
27 6. The right to predictive scheduling that allows restaurant
28 workers the ability to engage in family and social
29 obligations outside of work.
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1 7. The right to a safe and dignified workplace, free from
2 harassment and discrimination of any type.
3 8. The right to comprehensive and affordable healthcare,
4 including a full range of reproductive and gender-affirming
5 care.
6 9. The right to participate in governance by exercising their
7 rights as citizens, workers, voters, activists, and
8 organizers at all levels of government and at the workplace,
9 free from pressure or coercion from employers; and be it
10 further
11 Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the
12 Governor and the Director of the Department of Labor and Economic
13 Opportunity.
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