In addition to voting to stop wage
increase with the minimum wage.
Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin will
headline the national conference of
the restaurant lobbying group that
led that battle, actually.
It's one of the industry's most
opposed to raising
the minimum wage and
getting rid of the 15 minimum wage,
that's obviously far, far lower.
As a person who's worked in many
service industry jobs,
I've had checks that were for
$5 after a week of 60 hours,
I know what that's like.
And they have a lobby and
they have favorite senators, and so
they brought Manchin and
Sinema into talk.
They're going to be featured
on panels entitled Seeking Unity,
Conversations on
Finding Bipartisan Solutions.
But bear in mind, this is the
National Restaurant Association.
So finding bipartisan solutions to
which problem exactly?
We know the problem.
The problem is, my god,
we might have to pay them,
let's find some bipartisan
solutions to those problems.
And I'm sure together, Sinema,
Manchin and a few others,
Francesca, will be able to.
>> Yeah,
the bipartisanship is like, let's
give an 8% tip, what do you say?
Republicans want to leave 5%,
democrats want to do like a 12.
Settle on eight, call it a day.
No, this is an incredibly
important issue.
Also, remember, we're obviously,
we're at a time where during COVID,
corporations made massive amounts
of money, grocery stores, etc.
And restaurants largely
have suffered, right?
Especially small restaurants.
So you could see the impetus, and
you could imagine that small and
mid-sized restaurants.
Might want to ally themselves with
larger restaurants, and chains, and
powerful groups, to basically.
Yeah, kill the idea that you would
one day actually pay
workers a wage, rather than having
them only rely on tips, right?
And there is a huge movement called
One Fair Wage that does incredible
work around this.
And it bears out that yes,
It is important to give a minimum
wage to tip workers.
They won't be making less money,
that is the lie that they are often
told, and often told by folks in
the industry.
But know that they deserve that
baseline minimum wage.
>> Totally.
>> But yeah, right, and so
you have like this moment of after
COVID a lot of these restaurants
are going to be saying.
Dude, sorry, see, we'd love to, but
because COVID, we can't.
Don't look at our PPP loans.
No, I mean,
we might've gotten some, but
we still can't afford it.
So like this fight is going to
start redoubling.
And I think it's really important
to start dispelling that
disinformation around the idea that
restaurants have
to be exploitative.
They have to do that in order to
survive.
That is absolutely not true.
And if there were better
wage standards,
if there were more protections for
workers, it wouldn't be that way.
>> Yeah, if there perhaps, weren't
a bunch of senators like Sinema and
Manchin.
[LAUGH] >> Who are be like,
this is the process we were just
talking about in an earlier story.
They're headlining this
conference for this lobby group.
I wonder who these different
industries are going to give money
to for their reelection bows,
I don't know.
We're going to have to stay
tuned to find out.
But what I do know is that we won't
know what they actually say.
Because the conference event
registration page says it's an off
the record event close to press.
So it's our senators going and
speaking to representation for
an industry and we don't get to
find out what it is.
See, it's definitely pro workers
stuff they're saying,
that's why they want to hide it
from the press.
Now, what's interesting is that
executives of the NRA, this is the
National Restaurant Association,
not the Rifle Association.
Member restaurant chains including
Denny's, McDonald's, Domino's,
Cheesecake Factory.
Have been telling their investors
that they will not be significantly
harmed by higher minimum wage and
it's actually not going
to harm them.
That what they say publicly and
what they lobby for is a lie.
They say, we can't raise wages
because that will hurt us.
So they admit it won't hurt them,
but you'll notice they still
don't want to raise the wages.
Is it possible it's not about
them being hurt, it's that
they don't want to pay more.
Then that's it,
that doesn't require,
that is the end.
That's not the means, it's the end,
making sure that you make less.
And so when you have that,
it's all public that Manchin and
Sinema would go.
Well, Manchin at the very least
has this aura of being like the pro
labor senator.
What pro-labor senator is getting
invited to give a cozy, probably
well-paid speech at this national
conference of a lobbying group?
>> Yeah, I don't know,
today's the day that news
broke that Senator Joe Manchin is
going to co-sponsor the PRO Act.
Look, guys,
I'll believe it when I see it.
When that passes,
I will believe it.
But look, you still have to get
through the filibuster, and
I still don't see that happening.
I'm sorry,
I don't believe Joe Manchin for
a hot second, which is as long as
he can hold a political idea or
point in his mind.
[LAUGH] >> Like that is how
the extent of his principle,
one second and then he turns.
As soon as he starts getting
congratulated, especially from
the liberals and the left,
that's when he turns to the right.
So don't believe Joe Manchin
until you see the proof.
But yes, speaking at a conference.
That's deliberately trying to tank
a grassroots movement, just like
the Fight for 15 movement but with
inside the restaurant industry.
Is a dead giveaway that this person
does not care about unionization.
This person does not care about
workers rights and absolutely,
like you're saying, John,
these corporations know they can
easily pay that.
But no,
they prefer to give us, look,
I'm a solid 20% tipper, right?
But like, if I knew that a server
was being paid $15 an hour,
that might go down to ten.
It's not going to go down to zero,
which is what like a lot of
scaremongers will tell you,
like, yeah, you'll be,
there'll be no tips.
No, man, because I changed
my order three times, or whatever.
And like I said the onions weren't
cooked enough,
because like they give me gas.
>> And you would
occasionally get mad and
you'll throw food on the ground.
That happens, so.
>> Yeah, exactly, it's the bread
crumb tacks of me throwing crumbs.
I eat very messy.
>> Bad with crackers,
just is terrible.
You shouldn't get them, really.
Yeah, so anyway, look,
I'm glad that the fact that they're
appearing there is getting
coverage.
David Sirota and
others writing about it in Jacobin.
People need to understand who these
senators are.
If they're going to be as powerful
as the president individually,
let's follow them around
the country.
Let's listen to what they say,
let's see what they do.
And then, let's prep for
primary challenges accordingly.
I don't know about you, but like,
there's a couple things I'm
looking forward to my life.
Seeing Black Widow in theaters is
one, and aiding whoever primary is
Kyrsten Sinema is the other.
Basically those are my two things.
Maybe some future pop tart flavors,
I don't know, I'm open to a third.
Those are the two
reasons I want to live.
Anyway, >> If, first of all, you
realize that she's going to go as
black widow for Halloween, and your
whole world is going to crumble.
And I want you to prepare for that.
John Ladarola.
>> No, she'll be like, no.
Because she.
>> Yes. >> Was kind of in tune, but
she'll leave it a tune,
she'll go as catwoman.
Like on the year Black Widow
comes out.
Anyway, but it'll be pink leather.
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