Mondays Off: Working in Bars & Restaurants
15 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago -Audio newsletter of sorts with news, stories, interviews, chats, kvetching and inspiration from bar and restaurant folks all over who are trying to make this industry better for workers, launched in the year of our Covid, summer 2020.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Ep. 15: A 'Ronaversary, w/Bennett from Tattersall - and The Dish!!
March 15, 2021 07:00 - 1 hour - 53 MBIt's been a YEAR folks. For me, a year to the day since I went in to work a shift and found out we were closing. We had NO IDEA what was coming. But this episode isn't about that. Because I'm stoked to announce the launch of The Dish!!! A newsletter for workers in the service industry - brought to you by humble volunteer editors such as myself (if there's a typo, you can just assume it's my fault, that's fair). The Dish (which you can follow on Twitter) is brought to you by the Restaura...
Ep. 14: Thoughts on the Eve of the Covidaversary
February 25, 2021 08:00 - 1 hour - 52.6 MBJust a little bi-coastal chat this week, catching up on some news from the past weeks, and checking in on legislative relief efforts for the bar and restaurant industry. As NYC increases capacity for indoor dining, and nightclubs turn restaurant to get by, the city's outdoor dining sprawl is getting people riled, which isn't too surprising. We never got a chance to talk about those superbowl ads earlier - the Cointreau/IRC one which invokes an almost painful nostalgia, and the Doordash/S...
Ep. 13: It's a Union Drive! w/Kait Dessoffy of Collectivo Coffee.
February 16, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 50.4 MBWhat's up with midwestern coffee shops these days? They've got the union bug it seems! This episode is a discussion with Kait Dessofy, barista, dancer and volunteer organizer at Collectivo Coffee - a chain mostly located among Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison. Collectivo workers are in the midst of a union drive - and you should definitely follow them on Instagram to follow their efforts, gets tips on navigating this territory from the perspective of folks (mostly) doing this for the first ...
Ep. 12: Tipping, Part 2: Navigating Subminimum Wage Flame Wars, er, Debates.
February 13, 2021 21:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBPart Two of a discussion with Adam Barr and Maria Moreno of Restaurant Opportunities Center of the Bay Area (ROC the Bay) along with Tiffany joining in NYC. This is where we really ***get into it***!!! The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $2.13 an hour since 1991. People argue endlessly, passionately and in the name of all working people (somehow!) against raising it. Here we examine some common arguments, one by one: The "Getting rid of subminimum wage means getting rid of tips" ...
Ep. 11: Tipping, Part 1: Subminimum Wage and Its Origins
February 13, 2021 20:00 - 42 minutes - 29 MBI've long known this podcast would end up doing multiple episodes dedicated to different aspects of tipping, little did I know that the very first discussion, on the subminimum wage, would itself, get split into a two-parter. Tiffany in NYC joined again for a chat with two organizers from the Restaurant Opportunities Center here in the Bay Area (ROC the Bay): Adam Barr and Maria Moreno. For ease of listening/sharing I just broke it up into two segments. In Part One: we talk a little abo...
Ep. 10: a Texas-Sized Chat w/Gina & Crystal from the Texas Service Industry Coalition
January 28, 2021 20:00 - 1 hour - 70.9 MBAn hour and forty (!!!!) blew by with two of the leaders of the Texas Service Industry Coalition, Gina Dvorak (Insta/Twitter) and Crystal Maher (Insta/Twitter) - both based in Austin. Follow TSIC on Instagram and Twitter. We spend some time hearing about how things have gone down in the Lone Star state where they started to allow indoor dining back in May (WTF), reminding us that truly, we live in different worlds in this pandemic. Austin, with a reputation for being a little different...
Ep. 9: The RESTAURANTS Act & It's Flaws w/ Ben Reynolds of Restaurant Workers United
January 16, 2021 02:00 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBIT'S A PARTY!!!! Gettin' DOWN with pdfs on congress.gov today!! WOOOO!!!! But seriously, we dive into The RESTAURANTS Act, which, aside from having THE best legislative acronym since the proposed JAWS Act of 2014, may get a boost with a Biden administration and new Congress. Introduced in June, the $120 billion package purports to #saverestaurants. But what does it do? And will it save workers along with the establishments that employed them? Guarantees for employees are notably absent fro...
Ep. 8: A New Year! Yay?! Maybe? Who knows!
January 02, 2021 00:00 - 1 hour - 53.7 MBLast show of the year of our Covid, 2020! Here's to better things, more frequent shows, many cool new guests and generally learning a lot more about podcasting, in 2021!! Tiffany joins, champagne flute in hand, from NYC again. And an old comrade of Karina's, Mariah, drops in from DC, toasting the new year with Bacardi. Karina was unprepared for drinking at the early hour of noon PST so she managed to pour some Jack Daniels in her tea. It was not good. It was not bad. A holiday favorite i...
Ep. 7: We Stumble On....
December 12, 2020 20:00 - 1 hour - 49.9 MBAfter a hiatus to contemplate the crumbling of our society, we're back! And we're resolving to be nice while still being miserable, channelling these Ominous Positivity vibes. First off: Everyone hates Tom Brady. That's all. In unrelated news, India's been having the largest strike in world history. Chit-chat's over! Now, straight to the dark side - the worst people are coming out to eat. Not only are they tipping less but they're sexually harassing staff more than ever. One Fair Wage's...
Ep. 6: Spyhouse Coffee Workers Unionizing in Minneapolis.
October 21, 2020 22:00 - 1 hour - 51.9 MBGrab a cuppa joe and listen up! It's a good one today folks :) Three workers from Spyhouse Coffee in Minneapolis - Elise, Maeve and Matt - chatted about the Whys and Hows of their choice to start unionizing their coworkers and stage the first successful food service industry strike in 20 years in the state of Minnesota. Against the background of the George Floyd protests, they also feel the problematic history of their workplace with their community is also an important part of their fight...
Ep. 5: Fun with Numbers, and Al Cousineau Says Hi from Kansas City.
October 04, 2020 03:00 - 1 hour - 47.7 MBTiffany's back in New York and we check in with organizer, Al Cousineau in Kansas City (MO), who's been working with the Restaurant Organizing Project, and making cool art. We discuss underreporting/contact tracing troubles, the tragic passing of a legend, the power of the (corporate) strike, and the fact that the Rent is Definitely Too High for almost all NYC bars and restaurants. This episode's Bad News: Fox News spreading misinformation in Nashville about imaginary restaurant closure cons...
Ep. 4: Portland Unemployed Workers Council
September 25, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 53.5 MBThis week we go (virtually!) to Portland to talk to two industry veterans, Venu Mattraw and Jad Mansour, who are organizers of that city's nascent Unemployed Workers Council, which builds on the tradition of similar councils that sprung up during the Great Depression. You can read a little about the historical councils here or here, and you can find Portland's on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or reach out via email at uwcpdx at protonmail dot com. There are also councils that have emerge...
Ep. 3: Update on New York's rotting corpse and a chat with John Ocampo in Chicago.
September 08, 2020 17:00 - 1 hour - 45.9 MBTiffany's back! We talk rampant ticketing of outdoor eating and drinking establishments in NYC, the unemployment benefits extension (here's a cool state-by-state tracker), the potential battery charges for harassing restaurant staff (depends on state), the threat of winter to outdoor seating, the threat of wildfire pollution to outdoor seating (Muahahaaa good times in CA), and oh yeah - that declaration that New York Is Dead Forever (spoiler, some folks disagree). On the bright side - these ...
Ep. 2: Unions, Bars, and Covid: a conversation w/Blake Dahlstrom of Anchor Brewery.
August 18, 2020 19:00 - 50 minutes - 34.8 MBIn this episode I have a chat with one of the leaders of the drive to unionize Anchor Brewery and Public Taps in San Francisco, which became the first craft brewery in the nation to unionize. If you're interested in what folks are doing around the country to organize in our industry, check out the DSA's Restaurant Organizing Project, which is being picked up by various chapters across the country, and also Restaurant Workers United, which started in Denver this past Spring (sign their peti...
Ep. 1: It's the apocalypse, let's start a podcast.
August 09, 2020 01:00 - 47 minutes - 32.8 MBJust two bartenders shooting the shit about our industry while it crumbles around us! Karina in Oakland checks in with Tiffany in NYC. Tiff talks about the city's drinking problems, Cuomo's response, and traffic woes. Karina goes over her favorite "nightmare customer" headlines from CA and beyond: this douchebag at Lanesplitter in Berkeley, the *former* CEO on a racist rant in Fresno, the coughing customer Karina would definitely have punched, the sweet 19-yr-old McDonald's worker who wa...