Seattle service workers are set to get a pay hike, unless restaurant lobbyists get their way. Policymakers can boost the restaurant industry in better ways than pay cuts
Last month, The Seattle Times organized a Town Hall panel discussion with four local restaurateurs, posing the question: “Why are Seattle restaurants so expensive?” The context, of course, was the hefty raise many restaurant workers are poised to see at the end of this year — so long as efforts to halt the final phase-in of Seattle’s minimum wage law don’t succeed.
If the event was an attempt to sway Seattle’s worker-friendly public by appealing to our self-interest as customers, it wasn’t terribly successful. The moderator, Jackie Varriano of The Seattle Times, gave her panelists multiple opportunities to complain about the upcoming wage hike. But, whether due to genuine support or fear of consequences (Cherry Street Coffee, anyone?), they didn’t take the bait.
