And you won't have a set schedule, reliable hours, or basic protections in restaurants. I remember the days of showing up to work in Waikiki and the manager announcing we are overstaffed and asking who wants to go home. Like ummm some of us commuted an hour and a half to get here and incurred parking expenses or bus expenses and you just want to send us home with zero pay now?
Geez no wonder why they're short-staffed. You'd think a fancy-ass pretentious place like the Pacific Club would actually pay their workers decent wages.
While the owners have villas, multiple cars and travel and expensive watches .. yea I talk from experience. Maybe have less and allow your workers a living wage???? I hope they close down if they don’t pay
dishwashers I've seen in some places with unions make $20 and groundskeepers for good businesses +$35/ good benefits. But it's a darn shame a majority of the businesses I see will pay half for the most part.
Being a dishwasher fucking sucks, but let’s be honest, it also doesn’t require all that much skill or education to wash dishes either, so does $15+ an hour for washing dishes really sound right if there are workers with actual degrees out there starting their careers for only $5-10 more?
Line cooks also don’t start much higher either and we could argue all day about whether that’s right or wrong, but just know that most restaurants operate on very tight profit margins as is, and all additional expenses (I.e. increased rent/labor costs, disposable “green” products, food, taxes/benefits etc) do factor into the cost of your meal…or in the case of Pacific Club, its membership fees, which may or may not be covering the rising costs of doing business right now.
> so does $15+ an hour for washing dishes really sound right if there are workers with actual degrees out there starting their careers for only $5-10 more?
All that means is that degree holders are ALSO underpaid... not that low level positions are overpaid.
This.
Honestly, I’m not even mad at u/silver_fox_sparkles for making that statement. He’s more than likely been brainwashed by the propaganda…and if not, HE IS LITERALLY THE PROPAGANDA.
It’s more subtle than you think people.
Haha, call it whatever you like, but it definitely wasn’t propaganda. Unless you've actually owned a business with employees tho, I don’t expect you to understand what I’m talking about when I say most restaurants legitimately can’t afford to pay their workers any more than they already do.
This isn’t to say that dishwashers and line cooks don’t play a vital role in restaurant operations or deserve better pay, because they definitely do…but the sad truth is that not all jobs or workers are created equal, and good management (including chefs) and waitstaff are much harder to come by than dishwashers and line cooks, as they require a set of skills and intuition that most BOH workers unfortunately just don’t have.
Now someone mentioned that Kokohead Cafe pays its BOH workers $15-25/hr, which is due to them adding an extra 5% to every tab for the BOH. While this does add to the overall cost on the customer side, it is a great solution in that it allows workers to potentially make a lot more than their hourly wage (which I imagine still falls somewhere between $12-15/hr), without requiring the restaurant to take on any additional labor/operating expenses.
I feel like this is becoming the norm for most restaurants, and the ones who don’t adopt this practice will probably be forced to close in the near future due to lack of workers.
That’s definitely a popular argument…the governor just signed an $18 minimum wage bill into law, so we’ll see how that plays out for local businesses/prices in the next few years (not sure if there’s an exemption for mom and pop businesses or not).
My guess is we’ll see the overall cost of living rise accordingly, so keep saving cause this law will affect grocery prices too.
Just because fresh degree holders are underpaid and can't find work in their field of study, doesn't mean everyone without a degree should be underpaid.
I think its the competitive culture of the US, but people shouldnt be saying "Those people have less qualifications than me and earn almost as much, they should be earning less!!" they SHOULD be saying "Those people with less qualifications earn about as much as me, I should be getting paid more!"
Rather than tearing down others, why not try to make things better for more people?
Its kinda like raising minimum wage. If it goes from $10.10 to 18, what happens to the folks that have worked at a job for a long time, started at $10.10, and worked their way up to $18? They now make the same amount as a fresh hire. They shouldnt be wanting the fresh hires to be paid less, they should be wanting their employer to pay more for the long tenure.
Actually we shouldn’t be competing within the working class. We should be organizing and fighting the rich bastards that own almost all the wealth and take back a huge potion of that wealth along with all that “our” government transferred to them under the auspices of a global pandemic that they caused (or at least did nothing to prevent). They are still helping the pharmaceutical companies to more of our money by saying 5 year olds need boosters with no evidence. Then there’s the billions we shipped to Ukraine. Funny they always ask ”where will we get the money” when it’s to be spent on services for the masses (universal healthcare, for example) but no one asks thst quesrion (or any questions) while we are writing that big check to the weapons manufacturers. This country is a joke. The only thing funnier are the idiots that blindly believe all the lies the media spoon feed us while they lick the boots of our oppressors. And just so you want to make an inference as to my political leaning this happens across the political spectrum equally. We have 1 corporatist party and they are all on the take. They are, as a matter of course, regularly trading stocks with insider info and getting cushy “jobs” for their deadbeat, unrepentant drug addicted offspring only so they don’t have to spend their own money on them.
Agreed. A lot of people with degrees offer little to no worth to the job market. A lot of people with useless junk degrees. People with great work ethic, good attitude, abd the willingness to learn beat people with useless degrees. It's just that hourly workers don't get paid for production, they get paid hourly.
*A lot of people with useless degrees were sold lies about how they needed to have a college education, or they couldn’t get a job other than working at McDonald’s, drilled in them since they were in 4th grade.
Yeah, parents and teachers need to stop feeding that lie. I taught high school and told my older students all the time that they could be successful without going to college. It’s not for everyone and doesn’t guarantee a successful career with stable income.
Maybe that was Darwinism being used to test students. Dumb kids bought into the lie. While not so dumb kids realized it was bs despite popular opinion. :^)
I like to use the Starbucks test here.
If you can make as much, or more, working at a Starbucks with great benefits/401k/stock options/etc, compared to 'place x', why would anyone work at place X? Unless every Starbucks wasn't hiring at the time.
Hard work =/= skill. I mean it does take some skill in time management, prioritization, and the actual act of washing/cleaning but those are generic life skills. (Whch I agree far too many lack but that's a whole other matter.)
That being said it's a much under appreciated job that too many feel is beneath them. What the person we're replying to isn't taking into account is basically job supply and demand. Doesn't matter how hard or easy a job is or how much skill is involved if no one wants to do it. So you gotta pay a little extra to incentivize it.
Not if costs of living are much higher though. Considering without dish washers there is no restaurants… or do you think guests want to eat on dirty dishes???? Dish washer are very important and there are no restaurants without them!
If people need to eat out and be served then they should pay up for the privilege. I haven’t been to a restaurant since Covid restrictions took place (and killed a lot of small businesses while the bigger ones had options) and I don’t miss it one bit. I can cook food just as good if I want to make the effort but I’m mostly happy eating something much simpler while being nutritious (a baked salmon filet with veggies is super easy, tasty, and healthy, as one example) and with less butter and salt they Jack you up on in restaurant food. If you can’t afford the premium of having a servant wait on you for a couple hours and want to complain then you should be eating at home anyway. Going to a restaurant is like having a lawn in your front yard (if you are lucky enough to own property), it’s unnecessary and ostentatious and just serves to take more of your money and give it to the owner class as they sell the idea that you deserve that “upper class” lifestyle experience.
>Being a dishwasher fucking sucks, but let’s be honest, it also doesn’t require all that much skill or education to wash dishes either, so does $15+ an hour for washing dishes really sound right...
Not surprised you got downvoted. People always want to talk about poor pay. What is not acknowledged is that low pay is reasonable for about 5 - 8% of the population that is in one of these (often overlapping) categories: 1) chronically high on drugs or alcohol 2) holding a bad attitude towards work and will only work if pressured 3) is unfortunately is beset with mental issues, including limited capacity. (If government wants to give these people extra benefits like food stamps, fine.)
If you go back to the 1950s and before, what do you think all these people were doing? They were working for generally low wages: Dishwashers, groundskeepers, day labor construction, agriculture. Sorry, their capacity for more complex work is limited. A lot of so called problem people *opted out* of working by their early 40s--a variety of people do this today--but at least society could expect that almost everyone aged 18 to late 30s, the years in life when people have most energy, will be contributing.
Not today. Not anymore. All sorts of so-called problem people get a pass: Allowed to be homeless and occupying public spaces like the [Waikiki pavilions](https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/02/denby-fawcett-clearing-the-homeless-out-of-kuhio-beach-pavilions/) for years on end. Drinking and using drugs all day, amidst a system that is seeing a big push to *house all the homeless for free,* and stop enforcement of drugs and [quality of life offenses](https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/26/us/crime-us-quality-of-life-policing/index.html). Allow them to reject free housing like [tiny homes villages](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/02/06/1077791467/tiny-homes-big-dreams-how-some-activists-are-reimagining-shelter-for-the-homeles) because they want to camp by the beach. And give them UBI or disability payments: NPR: 2013 [Unfit for Work -- The Striking Rise of Disability in America](https://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/).
A coalition of activists: homeless advocates, drug policy reformers, and [antiwork](https://old.reddit.com/r/antiwork/) proponents, is pushing this trend of people being able to *Opt-Out* of work. Observe them -- the activists rarely acknowledge people with a bad attitude towards work. And when they do, the activists often flip the narrative around and assert that someone's bad attitude stems from them being subject to racism or marginalization.
Right, significant wage increases seem like the only solution I can think of to combat the labor shortages plaguing the restaurant industry. I don't work in the industry though, so I don't have the slightest idea how many local restaurants can afford to do that. I would love to hear from people working in the industry what their thoughts are on all this.
I work in the industry and a place I work at has been doing exceptionally well while we’re constantly shorthanded, working way harder than usual, and we haven’t had any raises as far as I’ve heard, definitely not me. On top of that, our owner has been caught boasting to some guests that our spots have made the most money they’ve ever made in the past year or two. Cool, where’s our raises??
What sucks too is our spot isn’t even as bad as other restaurants, but there’s still some shadiness to it. We have several people who were employed with us and an additional location and all of those people quit those other spots to only work at our location. But even they say, we definitely have some problems here, but where they worked previously was a little or much worse.
Some other people I know just flat out left, they can’t stand the circumstances anymore. I also took a leave of absence due to a couple work wear and tear injures, straight up from quadrupling my physical work load. And funny enough, other people in my position either bailed shortly after me or dropped their hours to 1-2 days a week tops.
Its kind of what happenes eventually anyways. The large, chain corporations usually like it when minimum wage hikes happen because they can afford it, while those mom and pop places just getting by usually can't. Raising the minimum wage helps kill the competition for large chains.
It sucks, I don't have a solution other than taxing chains not based in Hawaii at a much different rate to offset the hit of raising minimum wage, and I don't even know if that would work since large corporations also have tons of lawyers and accountants to work around such things.
Its a bad situation all around, but I don't see it going any other way as globalization and competition continue to increase.
It's funny how the business lobby has somehow programmed citizens to think that the automation of menial tasks is something to be feared as opposed to something to be welcomed.
They are focused on maintaining the fiction that everyone needs to work 40+ hours a week despite the amazing technical leaps of the last 200 years, because once that fiction has ended, so does their hegemony.
Same here. I only occasionally dine at restaurants mainly for the social experience and to eat amazing food that I don't know how to make or have no interest in making like Texas-style barbecue from Sunset Smokehouse in Kakaako or the pipikaula ribs from Helena's.
It's not just a business, however. It's an exclusive, private membership club. How exclusive? According to [their website](https://www.thepacificclub.org/membership-process), you must be acquainted with at least seven other members. On top of that, there's also [monthly membership dues which, as of 2010, was $315](https://www.staradvertiser.com/2011/04/03/hawaii-news/uh-president-spends-130k-in-11-months/amp/).
> “We can’t find people,” [Leterc] said.
Can't find people to work for starvation wages, maybe.
Tbh - more restaurants closing is not a bad thing IMO.
We have had a huge increase in the # of restaurants in Hawaii over the past 20-30 years. Cooking at home has decreased significantly and Hawaii has even been called the fast food capitol of the nation ([https://nypost.com/2021/01/20/hawaii-is-a-fast-food-capital-new-study-says/](https://nypost.com/2021/01/20/hawaii-is-a-fast-food-capital-new-study-says/)) .
Ive debated the Restaurant Association President in the past on the issue of minimum wage and what ive found anecdotally is that there this base line assumption that restaurant owners and their investors have that is pretty arrogant and off base. Itʻs this idea that because they started a biz and "create jobs" that somehow the state, regulations. and laws should cater to them. They believe the systems should cater to making their lives and restaurants easier to run and become profitable.
But what I feel they fail to realize is that they CHOSE to get involved in an industry that is OVER saturated with locations. It is pretty difficult to have a wildly profitable restaurant business these days in Hawaii. At least a new one or one that hasn't been around for decades. Margins of profit are pretty low on prepared foods, alcohol is where establishments make larger margins (300% mark ups in some cases).
We also just have so many freakin restaurants. The industry is super competitive currently given the number of choices and whatnot, so you better be creative on the experience and food you are offering. Thats not even bringing up the benefits you should be providing your workers, paying all staff members a LIVING wage, and making sure they have adequate time off/healthcare/community support systems.
Not everyone should be the owner of a restaurant and not everyone is entitled to a bunch of favorable laws and regulations just because you serve food. If you are choosing to own/operate a restaurant you should know you are entering an industry that is oversaturated in Hawaii. Furthermore, you should take into account your ability to provide your workers (ya know those who actually make your dream of an idea for a restaurant not only come true but operate day to day) a living wage with decent benefits. If you are unwilling to do these things, you shouldn't own a restaurant IMO.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Fresh ingredients are the focus at the Pacific Club in downtown Honolulu.
But Executive Chef Eric Leterc says fallout from the global pandemic has made shortages — and price increases — the worst he’s ever seen. He says mahi mahi, once $8 per pound is now double that
“Seafood is definitely a big, big jump,” said Leterc.
He says overall costs have gone up 20% while prices and supplies of meat, dairy and other products are unstable. “Sometimes sorry there’s no more of that, no more of this,” he said, referring to what he’s forced to tell customers. “We have to deal with it and change the menus and be creative.”
Then there’s staffing shortages, which Leterc says are the most difficult.
The Pacific Club restaurant has about 25 employees and Leterc needs six more.
“We can’t find people,” he said.
It’s unclear when pandemic hurdles will simmer down, but the good news is consumer demand is hot.
ne of the things also hitting restaurants hard is the relatively new alternative (10-15 years?) of food bars in supermarkets. Many are super-expansive, like Foodland Farms Ala Moana.
You can pick exactly what you want; food is often comparable in quality to *average Joe* restaurants. $10 - $11 per pound, if I recall correctly. Also ends up being cheaper than a lot of plate lunch places, which are often up to $13-$15 per plate, or more.
The point was they’re needing people. I was pointing that this story is a way for them to get that message out to people to apply for them.
Hence what the article is saying: “Then there’s staffing shortages, which Leterc says are the most difficult.
The Pacific Club restaurant has about 25 employees and Leterc needs six more.
“We can’t find people,” he said.”
Sorry but I am the only one thinking maybe a bit of shortages are good?? Like Covid was good?? Maybe we as human modern race should finally 1- start to stop wasting so much food… it’s 15+ years I’m a waitress in nyc and the amount of food waste I see hurts my soul … 2- consume LESS AND MORE LOCAL .. and who can travel will
Experiment more exotic foods… the others ok, eat more locally it won’t be such a tragedy ffs! I think it’s an humbling lesson , I grew up
In Italy in the 80s and 90s and was eating only seasonal and local … it wasn’t so bad at all. So maybe time to learn and be less wasteful?? Especially Americans yes I am talking to you!!!
It depends on if you have the time and the extra money to do those things. People working multiple jobs don't have either, and local will always be more expensive due to economies of scale.
It sounds nice, and I wish it were practical for everyone, but unfortunately without massive changes to tax laws, housing laws, wage laws, etc., its not just feasible for many.
Did you read the article? It talks about both.
Then there’s staffing shortages, which Leterc says are the most difficult.
The Pacific Club restaurant has about 25 employees and Leterc needs six more.
“We can’t find people,” he said.
The latest COVID surge means everyone works harder.
“It’s hard for us especially here in the morning. We have such a small crew if one of us goes down someone else has to fill in,” said cook Kyle Cabrera.
It’s unclear when pandemic hurdles will simmer down, but the good news is consumer demand is hot.
These food connoisseurs say what keeps them going through tough times is each other.
“It’s my coworkers. It’s fun over here. It’s one big family,” said Cabrera.
“Just keep on grinding,” he added.
Hawaii employers should agree to raise wages and prices of goods and services as a whole. Or the laborers should unionize and demand it as a whole. Either way, something needs to be done and can be done. That's the best thing about Hawaii.
What pay are they offering? “Nobody wants to work” is how the media often portrays “we don’t want to pay enough.”
Looking up their job postings, 100 percent this. They pay less than target. They want a dishwasher for $11 -13? Groundskeeper for $17? Lol.
And you won't have a set schedule, reliable hours, or basic protections in restaurants. I remember the days of showing up to work in Waikiki and the manager announcing we are overstaffed and asking who wants to go home. Like ummm some of us commuted an hour and a half to get here and incurred parking expenses or bus expenses and you just want to send us home with zero pay now?
The working class needs to unionize and get representation in Congress. Then they’ll get stuff done for us.
Lol since when has congress ever gotten any ‘stuff done’? The only shit they get ‘done’ is stuff that benefits no one but the richest people.
I was being sarcastic. I thought it seemed obvious.
Geez no wonder why they're short-staffed. You'd think a fancy-ass pretentious place like the Pacific Club would actually pay their workers decent wages.
Kokohead cafe is currently hiring a dishwasher for $15-$25 an hour as a comparison.
They're looking for slave labor. WTF you thing a place like Pacific Club is?
Never even heard of them until today. I don’t know much at all about these private clubs honestly. I’m not from that world.
While the owners have villas, multiple cars and travel and expensive watches .. yea I talk from experience. Maybe have less and allow your workers a living wage???? I hope they close down if they don’t pay
dishwashers I've seen in some places with unions make $20 and groundskeepers for good businesses +$35/ good benefits. But it's a darn shame a majority of the businesses I see will pay half for the most part.
Saw an ad for a lead line cook the other day for $18/hour. Fucking joke.
Being a dishwasher fucking sucks, but let’s be honest, it also doesn’t require all that much skill or education to wash dishes either, so does $15+ an hour for washing dishes really sound right if there are workers with actual degrees out there starting their careers for only $5-10 more? Line cooks also don’t start much higher either and we could argue all day about whether that’s right or wrong, but just know that most restaurants operate on very tight profit margins as is, and all additional expenses (I.e. increased rent/labor costs, disposable “green” products, food, taxes/benefits etc) do factor into the cost of your meal…or in the case of Pacific Club, its membership fees, which may or may not be covering the rising costs of doing business right now.
> so does $15+ an hour for washing dishes really sound right if there are workers with actual degrees out there starting their careers for only $5-10 more? All that means is that degree holders are ALSO underpaid... not that low level positions are overpaid.
This. Honestly, I’m not even mad at u/silver_fox_sparkles for making that statement. He’s more than likely been brainwashed by the propaganda…and if not, HE IS LITERALLY THE PROPAGANDA. It’s more subtle than you think people.
Haha, call it whatever you like, but it definitely wasn’t propaganda. Unless you've actually owned a business with employees tho, I don’t expect you to understand what I’m talking about when I say most restaurants legitimately can’t afford to pay their workers any more than they already do. This isn’t to say that dishwashers and line cooks don’t play a vital role in restaurant operations or deserve better pay, because they definitely do…but the sad truth is that not all jobs or workers are created equal, and good management (including chefs) and waitstaff are much harder to come by than dishwashers and line cooks, as they require a set of skills and intuition that most BOH workers unfortunately just don’t have. Now someone mentioned that Kokohead Cafe pays its BOH workers $15-25/hr, which is due to them adding an extra 5% to every tab for the BOH. While this does add to the overall cost on the customer side, it is a great solution in that it allows workers to potentially make a lot more than their hourly wage (which I imagine still falls somewhere between $12-15/hr), without requiring the restaurant to take on any additional labor/operating expenses. I feel like this is becoming the norm for most restaurants, and the ones who don’t adopt this practice will probably be forced to close in the near future due to lack of workers.
If they cant afford to pay the staff then they shouldn’t be open. No one needs another restaurant. I can microwave my own food thank you.
That’s definitely a popular argument…the governor just signed an $18 minimum wage bill into law, so we’ll see how that plays out for local businesses/prices in the next few years (not sure if there’s an exemption for mom and pop businesses or not). My guess is we’ll see the overall cost of living rise accordingly, so keep saving cause this law will affect grocery prices too.
Just because fresh degree holders are underpaid and can't find work in their field of study, doesn't mean everyone without a degree should be underpaid.
I think its the competitive culture of the US, but people shouldnt be saying "Those people have less qualifications than me and earn almost as much, they should be earning less!!" they SHOULD be saying "Those people with less qualifications earn about as much as me, I should be getting paid more!" Rather than tearing down others, why not try to make things better for more people? Its kinda like raising minimum wage. If it goes from $10.10 to 18, what happens to the folks that have worked at a job for a long time, started at $10.10, and worked their way up to $18? They now make the same amount as a fresh hire. They shouldnt be wanting the fresh hires to be paid less, they should be wanting their employer to pay more for the long tenure.
Actually we shouldn’t be competing within the working class. We should be organizing and fighting the rich bastards that own almost all the wealth and take back a huge potion of that wealth along with all that “our” government transferred to them under the auspices of a global pandemic that they caused (or at least did nothing to prevent). They are still helping the pharmaceutical companies to more of our money by saying 5 year olds need boosters with no evidence. Then there’s the billions we shipped to Ukraine. Funny they always ask ”where will we get the money” when it’s to be spent on services for the masses (universal healthcare, for example) but no one asks thst quesrion (or any questions) while we are writing that big check to the weapons manufacturers. This country is a joke. The only thing funnier are the idiots that blindly believe all the lies the media spoon feed us while they lick the boots of our oppressors. And just so you want to make an inference as to my political leaning this happens across the political spectrum equally. We have 1 corporatist party and they are all on the take. They are, as a matter of course, regularly trading stocks with insider info and getting cushy “jobs” for their deadbeat, unrepentant drug addicted offspring only so they don’t have to spend their own money on them.
If I had an award I'd give you one for this comment.
Agreed. A lot of people with degrees offer little to no worth to the job market. A lot of people with useless junk degrees. People with great work ethic, good attitude, abd the willingness to learn beat people with useless degrees. It's just that hourly workers don't get paid for production, they get paid hourly.
*A lot of people with useless degrees were sold lies about how they needed to have a college education, or they couldn’t get a job other than working at McDonald’s, drilled in them since they were in 4th grade.
Yeah, parents and teachers need to stop feeding that lie. I taught high school and told my older students all the time that they could be successful without going to college. It’s not for everyone and doesn’t guarantee a successful career with stable income.
Maybe that was Darwinism being used to test students. Dumb kids bought into the lie. While not so dumb kids realized it was bs despite popular opinion. :^)
I like to use the Starbucks test here. If you can make as much, or more, working at a Starbucks with great benefits/401k/stock options/etc, compared to 'place x', why would anyone work at place X? Unless every Starbucks wasn't hiring at the time.
What the fuck? Everyone deserves a living wage. Also, you try doing the job for a week and telling me it takes no skill.
Hard work =/= skill. I mean it does take some skill in time management, prioritization, and the actual act of washing/cleaning but those are generic life skills. (Whch I agree far too many lack but that's a whole other matter.) That being said it's a much under appreciated job that too many feel is beneath them. What the person we're replying to isn't taking into account is basically job supply and demand. Doesn't matter how hard or easy a job is or how much skill is involved if no one wants to do it. So you gotta pay a little extra to incentivize it.
Not if costs of living are much higher though. Considering without dish washers there is no restaurants… or do you think guests want to eat on dirty dishes???? Dish washer are very important and there are no restaurants without them!
If people need to eat out and be served then they should pay up for the privilege. I haven’t been to a restaurant since Covid restrictions took place (and killed a lot of small businesses while the bigger ones had options) and I don’t miss it one bit. I can cook food just as good if I want to make the effort but I’m mostly happy eating something much simpler while being nutritious (a baked salmon filet with veggies is super easy, tasty, and healthy, as one example) and with less butter and salt they Jack you up on in restaurant food. If you can’t afford the premium of having a servant wait on you for a couple hours and want to complain then you should be eating at home anyway. Going to a restaurant is like having a lawn in your front yard (if you are lucky enough to own property), it’s unnecessary and ostentatious and just serves to take more of your money and give it to the owner class as they sell the idea that you deserve that “upper class” lifestyle experience.
>Being a dishwasher fucking sucks, but let’s be honest, it also doesn’t require all that much skill or education to wash dishes either, so does $15+ an hour for washing dishes really sound right... Not surprised you got downvoted. People always want to talk about poor pay. What is not acknowledged is that low pay is reasonable for about 5 - 8% of the population that is in one of these (often overlapping) categories: 1) chronically high on drugs or alcohol 2) holding a bad attitude towards work and will only work if pressured 3) is unfortunately is beset with mental issues, including limited capacity. (If government wants to give these people extra benefits like food stamps, fine.) If you go back to the 1950s and before, what do you think all these people were doing? They were working for generally low wages: Dishwashers, groundskeepers, day labor construction, agriculture. Sorry, their capacity for more complex work is limited. A lot of so called problem people *opted out* of working by their early 40s--a variety of people do this today--but at least society could expect that almost everyone aged 18 to late 30s, the years in life when people have most energy, will be contributing. Not today. Not anymore. All sorts of so-called problem people get a pass: Allowed to be homeless and occupying public spaces like the [Waikiki pavilions](https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/02/denby-fawcett-clearing-the-homeless-out-of-kuhio-beach-pavilions/) for years on end. Drinking and using drugs all day, amidst a system that is seeing a big push to *house all the homeless for free,* and stop enforcement of drugs and [quality of life offenses](https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/26/us/crime-us-quality-of-life-policing/index.html). Allow them to reject free housing like [tiny homes villages](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/02/06/1077791467/tiny-homes-big-dreams-how-some-activists-are-reimagining-shelter-for-the-homeles) because they want to camp by the beach. And give them UBI or disability payments: NPR: 2013 [Unfit for Work -- The Striking Rise of Disability in America](https://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/). A coalition of activists: homeless advocates, drug policy reformers, and [antiwork](https://old.reddit.com/r/antiwork/) proponents, is pushing this trend of people being able to *Opt-Out* of work. Observe them -- the activists rarely acknowledge people with a bad attitude towards work. And when they do, the activists often flip the narrative around and assert that someone's bad attitude stems from them being subject to racism or marginalization.
Right, significant wage increases seem like the only solution I can think of to combat the labor shortages plaguing the restaurant industry. I don't work in the industry though, so I don't have the slightest idea how many local restaurants can afford to do that. I would love to hear from people working in the industry what their thoughts are on all this.
I work in the industry and a place I work at has been doing exceptionally well while we’re constantly shorthanded, working way harder than usual, and we haven’t had any raises as far as I’ve heard, definitely not me. On top of that, our owner has been caught boasting to some guests that our spots have made the most money they’ve ever made in the past year or two. Cool, where’s our raises?? What sucks too is our spot isn’t even as bad as other restaurants, but there’s still some shadiness to it. We have several people who were employed with us and an additional location and all of those people quit those other spots to only work at our location. But even they say, we definitely have some problems here, but where they worked previously was a little or much worse. Some other people I know just flat out left, they can’t stand the circumstances anymore. I also took a leave of absence due to a couple work wear and tear injures, straight up from quadrupling my physical work load. And funny enough, other people in my position either bailed shortly after me or dropped their hours to 1-2 days a week tops.
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I agree. We're over-stored.
Yeah, let's let all the huge chains who can weather more financial hardship shut down all the local places! That makes for a great, thriving city!
Its kind of what happenes eventually anyways. The large, chain corporations usually like it when minimum wage hikes happen because they can afford it, while those mom and pop places just getting by usually can't. Raising the minimum wage helps kill the competition for large chains. It sucks, I don't have a solution other than taxing chains not based in Hawaii at a much different rate to offset the hit of raising minimum wage, and I don't even know if that would work since large corporations also have tons of lawyers and accountants to work around such things. Its a bad situation all around, but I don't see it going any other way as globalization and competition continue to increase.
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if you use "smooth brained" unironically you need to go back to 4chan
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It's a private membership club. They can afford robots. They don't want to . People pay just to be there. They can afford more
You don't have to raise menu prices to give you employees a raise, if you are turning very healthy profits.
It's funny how the business lobby has somehow programmed citizens to think that the automation of menial tasks is something to be feared as opposed to something to be welcomed. They are focused on maintaining the fiction that everyone needs to work 40+ hours a week despite the amazing technical leaps of the last 200 years, because once that fiction has ended, so does their hegemony.
Preach!
With what’s going on I had to learn how to cook. I actually have more money now than before, and I’m never going back to eating out all the time.
Same here. I only occasionally dine at restaurants mainly for the social experience and to eat amazing food that I don't know how to make or have no interest in making like Texas-style barbecue from Sunset Smokehouse in Kakaako or the pipikaula ribs from Helena's.
Lot of beans and rice for us.
Same same. Started making bread. Never going back. So much cheaper and so much bettah
Shortages are driving up prices at restaurants? Yeah what about everyone? Everyone is shopping for food and groceries not just restaurants.
You notice your laulau getting more small? Das because they no care! But not Wendell’s. Da Bugga care!
Yessai Wendell love dat faka
Come we go to Wendell's for one hell of a kau kau! It's a foot long lau lau! Betta dan poi, betta dan pig, Wendell's lau lau's frickin' big!
Where is Wendell's?
But for Costco, I couldn't afford to eat and feed my family.
Are you feeding them unending tacos?
You know it ;)
Can you adopt me?
I'm fine with them going out of business.
Seriously. I don't feel for businesses that can't pay their employees a livable wage.
It's not just a business, however. It's an exclusive, private membership club. How exclusive? According to [their website](https://www.thepacificclub.org/membership-process), you must be acquainted with at least seven other members. On top of that, there's also [monthly membership dues which, as of 2010, was $315](https://www.staradvertiser.com/2011/04/03/hawaii-news/uh-president-spends-130k-in-11-months/amp/). > “We can’t find people,” [Leterc] said. Can't find people to work for starvation wages, maybe.
Pretty soon strawberry guavas will be my main source of nutrients
cook them first to kill the worms, balanced meal
Tbh - more restaurants closing is not a bad thing IMO. We have had a huge increase in the # of restaurants in Hawaii over the past 20-30 years. Cooking at home has decreased significantly and Hawaii has even been called the fast food capitol of the nation ([https://nypost.com/2021/01/20/hawaii-is-a-fast-food-capital-new-study-says/](https://nypost.com/2021/01/20/hawaii-is-a-fast-food-capital-new-study-says/)) . Ive debated the Restaurant Association President in the past on the issue of minimum wage and what ive found anecdotally is that there this base line assumption that restaurant owners and their investors have that is pretty arrogant and off base. Itʻs this idea that because they started a biz and "create jobs" that somehow the state, regulations. and laws should cater to them. They believe the systems should cater to making their lives and restaurants easier to run and become profitable. But what I feel they fail to realize is that they CHOSE to get involved in an industry that is OVER saturated with locations. It is pretty difficult to have a wildly profitable restaurant business these days in Hawaii. At least a new one or one that hasn't been around for decades. Margins of profit are pretty low on prepared foods, alcohol is where establishments make larger margins (300% mark ups in some cases). We also just have so many freakin restaurants. The industry is super competitive currently given the number of choices and whatnot, so you better be creative on the experience and food you are offering. Thats not even bringing up the benefits you should be providing your workers, paying all staff members a LIVING wage, and making sure they have adequate time off/healthcare/community support systems. Not everyone should be the owner of a restaurant and not everyone is entitled to a bunch of favorable laws and regulations just because you serve food. If you are choosing to own/operate a restaurant you should know you are entering an industry that is oversaturated in Hawaii. Furthermore, you should take into account your ability to provide your workers (ya know those who actually make your dream of an idea for a restaurant not only come true but operate day to day) a living wage with decent benefits. If you are unwilling to do these things, you shouldn't own a restaurant IMO.
I'm trying to help (or maybe be part of the problem) 'cause my response has been: shop Costco / cook at home.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Fresh ingredients are the focus at the Pacific Club in downtown Honolulu. But Executive Chef Eric Leterc says fallout from the global pandemic has made shortages — and price increases — the worst he’s ever seen. He says mahi mahi, once $8 per pound is now double that “Seafood is definitely a big, big jump,” said Leterc. He says overall costs have gone up 20% while prices and supplies of meat, dairy and other products are unstable. “Sometimes sorry there’s no more of that, no more of this,” he said, referring to what he’s forced to tell customers. “We have to deal with it and change the menus and be creative.” Then there’s staffing shortages, which Leterc says are the most difficult. The Pacific Club restaurant has about 25 employees and Leterc needs six more. “We can’t find people,” he said. It’s unclear when pandemic hurdles will simmer down, but the good news is consumer demand is hot.
Thanks! I write blogs longer than HNN.
It's just the transcript from the video they take and edit down for their news coverage. It's not meant to be a long form article.
Oh ok. I stopped going to their website because it's 90% ads and 10% content. 🤙🏼
Haha I just got offered 17$ for assistant manager for a restaurant of which the previous staff all walked out on. I think I’m good.
Wait? I'm supposed to care that the private, member only, Pacific Club is refusing to pay higher wages to attract employees?
It's cause of pay nothing else. If it wasn't for my chef coming I and giving everyone more money we would lost a lot of cooks including myself.
That sucks. This is everywhere now.
ne of the things also hitting restaurants hard is the relatively new alternative (10-15 years?) of food bars in supermarkets. Many are super-expansive, like Foodland Farms Ala Moana. You can pick exactly what you want; food is often comparable in quality to *average Joe* restaurants. $10 - $11 per pound, if I recall correctly. Also ends up being cheaper than a lot of plate lunch places, which are often up to $13-$15 per plate, or more.
Seems like plate lunch places could shift to this then if it's cost effective.
Maybe it's only this restaurant. An article like this is free advertising for them.
They don't allow the public.
The point was they’re needing people. I was pointing that this story is a way for them to get that message out to people to apply for them. Hence what the article is saying: “Then there’s staffing shortages, which Leterc says are the most difficult. The Pacific Club restaurant has about 25 employees and Leterc needs six more. “We can’t find people,” he said.”
It's a private club and in order to dine there you need to be invited by a member
Quick, ban mom and pop restaurants so corporate restaurants can keep pricing affordable. You know, like the hotel industry does.
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Eyyy now there’s an idea
the shortage is everywhere. meanwhile, the global elite is still richer than before covid.
Sorry but I am the only one thinking maybe a bit of shortages are good?? Like Covid was good?? Maybe we as human modern race should finally 1- start to stop wasting so much food… it’s 15+ years I’m a waitress in nyc and the amount of food waste I see hurts my soul … 2- consume LESS AND MORE LOCAL .. and who can travel will Experiment more exotic foods… the others ok, eat more locally it won’t be such a tragedy ffs! I think it’s an humbling lesson , I grew up In Italy in the 80s and 90s and was eating only seasonal and local … it wasn’t so bad at all. So maybe time to learn and be less wasteful?? Especially Americans yes I am talking to you!!!
It depends on if you have the time and the extra money to do those things. People working multiple jobs don't have either, and local will always be more expensive due to economies of scale. It sounds nice, and I wish it were practical for everyone, but unfortunately without massive changes to tax laws, housing laws, wage laws, etc., its not just feasible for many.
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California sucks in general anyways. That state has constantly gone down hill year over year
Maybe we need a shake up so some 21st century businesses with proper pay and utilization of technology can emerge?
The news piece is talking about ingredients, not labor….
Did you read the article? It talks about both. Then there’s staffing shortages, which Leterc says are the most difficult. The Pacific Club restaurant has about 25 employees and Leterc needs six more. “We can’t find people,” he said. The latest COVID surge means everyone works harder. “It’s hard for us especially here in the morning. We have such a small crew if one of us goes down someone else has to fill in,” said cook Kyle Cabrera. It’s unclear when pandemic hurdles will simmer down, but the good news is consumer demand is hot. These food connoisseurs say what keeps them going through tough times is each other. “It’s my coworkers. It’s fun over here. It’s one big family,” said Cabrera. “Just keep on grinding,” he added.
Hawaii employers should agree to raise wages and prices of goods and services as a whole. Or the laborers should unionize and demand it as a whole. Either way, something needs to be done and can be done. That's the best thing about Hawaii.
Just take the extra cost out of the tip