A new study, ‘Behind the Kitchen Door: Pervasive Inequality in New York City’s Thriving Restaurant Industry,’ said that majority of New York City’s restaurant industry, like many others, is employing “low road” workplace practices, which contributes to the creation of pre-dominantly low-wage industry in which few workers enjoy basic workplace benefits and safe and healthy working conditions. This study was conducted by the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) and the New York City Restaurant Industry Coalition and was unveiled at a restaurant summit on Jan. 25 in Manhattan.

This report builds on ROC-NY’s July 2003 report on ‘The New York City Restaurant Industry Analysis: Quantitative Report.’ The current study is based on results of 530 worker surveys, 45 one-hour interviews with restaurant workers, and 35 interviews with restaurant employers in New York City. The primary research was supplemented by analysis of secondary industry and government data as well as review of existing academic literature.

Another finding of the research was the degree of separation-and racial disparity that exists between workers the average restaurant diner interacts with and those who remain hidden in the “back of the house.”

Restaurant staff working in the “front of the house” enjoy better wages, working conditions, training, and opportunities for advancement than those behind kitchen doors. The study said that there is considerable concentration of workers of color, particularly Asian, Latino and Afro Caribbean immigrants in the back of the house.

According to the U.S. Census data, since 1980, the number of non-Hispanic white workers declined by 24.8 percent as the proportion of Asian and Hispanic workers increased by 10.3 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively. In 1980, less than half (47.5 percent) of New York City restaurant workers were born outside the U.S., by 2000, nearly two-thirds (64.4 percent) were.

The city is home to a vibrant, resilient and growing restaurant industry. Close to 15,000 food service and drinking places, including some of the nation’s largest and most profitable, make significant contributions to New York City’s tourism, hospitality and entertainment sectors and to the economy as a whole. In 2000, the industry accounted for over $8 billion of the city’s revenue. The figure is estimated to touch $13 billion by 2010. The restaurants in the city employ more than 165,000 workers; this figure is projected to increase by 14.6 percent by 2010.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the median wage for restaurant workers is only $9.11, which means that half of all city restaurant workers actually earn less. The ROC-NY survey found out that of those polled, 90 percent reported that their employers haven’t given them health insurance. About 59 percent of those surveyed said that they had experienced overtime violations and 13 percent reported minimum wage violations.

The study found that it is largely workers of color, and particularly immigrants of color, who are concentrated in the industry’s “bad jobs,” while white workers tend to disproportionately hold the few “good jobs.” About 33 percent of the workers polled said that they experienced verbal abuse on the basis of race, immigration status or language.

The research also revealed the hidden costs to customers and tax-payers of low-wage jobs and “low road” workplace practices. For example, low wages and lack of job security among restaurant workers lead to increased reliance on unemployment insurance and social assistance programs resulting in an indirect subsidy to employers engaging in “low road” practices and fewer such public resources available to all those in need.

The Restaurant Industry Coalition recommended that labor, employment and health and safety standards should be strictly enforced. Other things included, employees must also be educated about their legal responsibilities towards their employees. Policymakers must explore initiatives that encourage internal promotion and discourage discrimination on the basis of race and immigration status in the restaurant industry. Model employer practices should be publicized to provide much-needed guidance to other employers in the industry.

Also, barriers to organizing restaurant workers should be addressed and the public benefits of unionization in this and other industries should be publicized in light of the significant benefits to workers and employers alike which can arise as a result of the unionization of restaurant workers.