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Why Are States Blaming Stimulus and Unemployment for Lack of Workers?

The Pandemic Exposed Major Issues for Workers

By Trent FoxPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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Why Are States Blaming Stimulus and Unemployment for Lack of Workers?
Photo by Andrew "Donovan" Valdivia on Unsplash

Once again I heard the same refrain repeated on right wing media this week. The real reason that businesses cannot find workers is because Biden is giving them stimulus money and unemployment cash to just stay home and not come to work. The old trope that continues to play out is that poor people are lazy and if you give them any kind of safety net they will not work and just stay home.

It reminds me of the story I heard growing up in the 60s that called out the Welfare Queens for having baby after baby so they could collect more welfare and not work. It was not true then and this new story is not true now.

I am tired of hearing this same story rolled out once again to explain why government should stay out of our lives and let the markets determine our fate. Anything else is just labeled “Socialism” and the beat goes on.

It appears that restaurants are especially hard hit as they re-open and cannot find enough employees. I know that there are probably some restaurants that have treated their employees well, maybe even kept them on during the pandemic and can now reopen with a loyal staff that are part of a family business. But there are also many large chains that have spent years getting rich on the backs of underpaid workers who cannot make a decent living and are always behind on everything. They can’t pay rising rents, find childcare, transportation to work, no health care, sick leave or paid vacations.

Some articles also point out the poor working conditions in restaurants that continue to plague workers and cause them to leave. For example, when a customer complains the manager typically sides with them and does not even listen to the restaurant worker. A good manager would recognize this issue and solve it by taking the side of the customer to resolve the complaint and then take the employee in the back and support them by listening and caring about their side of the story. If a worker knew that the manager had their back then maybe a degree of loyalty would build up and give the worker another reason to stay or even come back after the restaurant re-opened.

This still does not address the issue of income but low pay plus no support puts the worker in a lose-lose situation and if given an out they will take it.

In this case the out was some stimulus money and unemployment insurance. Now the workers can catch their breath, take some time to figure out what they want to do next and in many cases not go back to the restaurant job, especially the large chains who only care about the bottom line.

Now let’s look at a small restaurant that has one owner and several employees who have been there for years. I have personally seen this situation in diners in the South where you find a waitress who has been doing the same job for 20+ years. Why would someone do this type of work for so long if they were not happy? The reason is that the owner values that worker and supports them with good pay, raises, tips, vacations, healthcare and treats them like a family member. In our town we had a restaurant like this. It was owned by the same family for 40 years. The owner retired at 91 in 2010 and the diner changed hands to a new owner who managed to run it into the ground in one year. The lady who owned it for 40 years was famous in our town because she had a simple formula for success. Treat everyone like family and the business will prosper. She had employees who had been with her for most of their lives and continued to work there year after year. When we came in the door there she was, smiling and welcoming us to her diner. She remembered our names and made of fuss over our girls as we waited for a table. After we were seated a waitress would immediately come over with water and menus and greet us with a big smile. The line cooks took great pride in the food and it was outstanding. The breakfasts were the best and the wait times were long. It was worth the wait and after great coffee, hot biscuits, eggs cooked just right, grits, homemade preserves, thick bacon, spicy sausage, fresh orange juice, and great attention from the waitress, our day started out very well. I made sure to leave a generous tip and we hoped the diner would be there forever.

But the owner ran out of gas at age 91 and there was no one in the family who wanted to take on the responsibility of keeping the diner and running it like her. So it was sold to a new owner and we crossed our fingers that he would keep the staff and continue the great traditions and wonderful food.

The first thing he did was cut costs by reducing the quality of the food. Then he let the staff go as he could hire new waitresses for less money. Line cooks who had been there for many years were let go and cheaper workers brought in who did not have the skills or experience. Customers who had been loyal for years stopped coming and it only took a year for the diner to fail and close their doors.

I am sure that everything was not perfect at this restaurant over the 40 years that it was successful. Maybe the pay was not great or there were issues with customers but from our point of view, it was successful because of the great food and dedicated staff who made it all happen.

The other issue for workers in the foodservice industry is the inability to find adequate housing near where they work. Our beach community has many great restaurants but no one can afford to live nearby as the rents have gone up so much that only professionals can afford to rent or buy. This means a very long commute and over time this wears people down.

Some states, including ours, have decided to eliminate the Federal unemployment subsidy that has helped so many workers stay afloat during the pandemic. This is their solution to the worker shortage, force people back to work by any means possible. This is not going to work as many workers cannot go back because of issues like lack of child care, fear of getting on a bus to go to work, or fear of going back to a bad situation with no future.

I believe that we have hurt ourselves in this country because so many people just want a restaurant that is familiar like all the chains that we can easily name if asked for the top 10.

Some articles point to the people who live in the suburbs who want to live in the same style house, drive similar cars, and eat at family restaurants that are lined up on service roads waiting for people to queue up to eat. Many of these chains are known for low pay, poor tip sharing, unpredictable work schedules, and overall poor working conditions.

This pandemic has burst the bubble and exposed just how bad the situation for poorly paid workers has become. Stimulus checks and unemployment subsidies have given many workers the breathing room they need to figure out what they want to do next and not just run back to a job that continued to drive them into the ground.

Maybe we will learn from this and open people’s eyes so that things will change and conditions will improve over time. Maybe start with raising the Federal minimum wage and listening to all the voices who want change.

humanity
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About the Creator

Trent Fox

I am 70, retired, and going back to my early days of writing. I look forward to publishing more stories on Vocal and sharing my life lessons with the world.

BTW, did you really think I would use a current photo of myself in this profile.

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