Hospitality has a break - and it’s heart breaking!
- Stephan Busch
- Oct 26, 2020
- 3 min read
As much as hospitality workers deserve a break - we should not forget - they don’t need such a break! They are tough cookies and worked for little or many just for survival. Now the survival is not guaranteed anymore by hard work.
It is the responsibility of governments to take measures to protect their citizen from a health threats. It is also the responsibility of governments to support and substitute for the losses that the workers (and they are the ones that are in danger - without big cooperations we can live. Not without the normal worker) have to endure.
We should not forget that hospitality workers were on the limit years ago and condition haven’t improved since then.
“Almost one quarter of restaurant workers reported relying on restaurant food because they did not have time to cook at home, and over one quarter reported relying on restaurant food because they could not afford to buy enough food.”
(Foodfirst July 2017 https://foodfirst.org/publication/food-insecurity-of-restaurant-workers/
The problems were multiple and they now explode
“Wage and tip theft, unpaid overtime, lack of paid sick time and lack of employer-sponsored health insurance are associated with an increased risk of food insecurity among restaurant workers. The sad irony is that many restaurant workers, despite making our food system work, cannot afford to feed themselves or their families”.
(Foodfirst July 2017 https://foodfirst.org/publication/food-insecurity-of-restaurant-workers/
“One of the sad things is that when you work in a restaurant, most of the servers are starving. There are long hours, no breaks, and low wages, so we’re always starving,” said Carolina Portillo, restaurant server and ROC-NY member. “It’s ironic that we are serving food and we are hungry.”
Twice as many restaurant workers reported being food insecure compared to the overall U.S. population,
(Foodfirst July 2017 https://foodfirst.org/publication/food-insecurity-of-restaurant-workers/)
“Restaurant workers stay hungry as the food industry feasts on profit
About third of restaurant workers are 'food insecure', a new report finds, and many struggle even to make enough to eat
The problems are old - not solved for many years and now we have a pandemic that closes the last places were people could make a living. That would not be a problem if governments that are able to throw billions this year at big companies and cooperations would take care of those citizens too.
In Spain 40% youth unemployment was the norm before Corona. With a drop in tourism by 97.7% percent where does it stand now?
In Germany 1,2 Million people were Mini jobbers in hospitality. Waiters, cooks, cleaners. They added to their income by long hours besides their other jobs as they would not have been able to survive before. Where does the income come from right now?
We employ in hospitality and the cruise industry millions of staff and crew that come from countries that do not offers any social back up for unemployment. Countries like Indonesia, Philippines, India and Bangladesh benefit from the billions that are send home by hardworking staff overseas. Cashing in on this billions was never a problem for the local governments there. Supporting them now is out of the question. Companies that hired them and exploited them with cheap salaries are also not taking any responsibility.
We love hospitality and often - for many - it’s the only way out and in - for a better living. So let's forgive them all? YES! But never forget!
Author: Stephan Busch, Academic Director at the State University for the Humanities Moscow RGGU, Faculty of Tourism & Hospitality and the Swiss International University earned his Master Certificate in Hospitality Management from Cornell University, USA. He has a diverse experience in launching operations, business development and service training- for hotel and cruise companies in Asia, Europe, Canada and Russia.
www.itsjusthotelsservice.com, contact@itsjusthotelsservice.com
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