Ep. 9: The RESTAURANTS Act & It's Flaws w/ Ben Reynolds of Restaurant Workers United

IT'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 from the language of the bill, and there is little to guarantee that the relief would reach those who most need it. Check out the article in Jacobin.

To discuss it, Ben Reynolds of Restaurant Workers United joins to examine how, with a House version principally backed by the Independent Restaurant Coalition and a Senate version backed by the (other) NRA, The RESTAURANTS Act runs the risk of being another giveaway to business interests, with workers left in the cold.

Want to get involved in pushing for better legislation? Start by signing Restaurant Workers United's petition! That'll get you in touch with the group, which you can also follow on Twitter and Instagram. As always, industry folks looking to organize can also hit up the DSA's Restaurant Organizing Project, also coordinating efforts to amend this legislation. 

Or - Make a video and tell your story!! If you want to contribute to a social media campaign on this topic, you can make a short video on your phone (instructions here) and email it to [email protected]. 

We touch on some DOOM AND GLOOM too. Natch.

Phew! After all the heavy stuff, Tiff & Karina just babble about bar folks storming the capitol, ill-advised selfies and PR weirdness at barproducts.com, who you can kick out of a bar, the vagaries of #DryJanuary and women's disconcertingly boozy reaction to lockdown, the Pin Project.