Waffle House strike highlights the harms of the Southern economic development model [View all]

[Passages]

Posted May 7, 2024 at 2:34 pm by Chandra Childers

In March, workers at the Waffle House in Conyers, Georgia, went on strike. It’s not difficult to see why: They are paid wages as low as $2.90 per hour before tips, with a $3.00 per shift “meal credit” taken from their already meager wages regardless of whether they have eaten a meal at the restaurant.

But that is not all—worker safety is also at issue. Waffle House workers report working in dangerous environments and point to the constant threat of violence and the lack of trained security in the restaurants. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for customers to start fights with or to attack workers. Waffle House staff is expected to deescalate these fights and call police rather than the store ensuring their safety and the safety of other customers. There are also robberies—one Waffle House worker was shot and killed during an armed robbery in Tifton, Georgia.

Finally, there is the practice of Waffle House restaurants being kept open during hurricanes and other disasters which endanger workers who are still expected to report for their shifts. One worker reported being asked to go to the store to purchase paper towels during a hurricane.

The conditions faced by staff at Waffle House restaurants exemplify the harmful philosophy of the Southern economic development model: that workers are just another commodity that can be replaced and a cost to be minimized. While financials are not public, Forbes estimates the owner of Waffle House has a net worth of $1.7 billion. Yet, 66% of Waffle House workers are paid less than $15 an hour and 24% are paid less than $10, according to our Company Wage Tracker. Thousands of Waffle House workers are paid poverty-level wages, with a portion of those wages being taken back as a “meal credit.” The meal credit that is automatically deducted from workers’ pay could add up to almost $30 million annually for Waffle House, according to reported estimates.
https://www.epi.org/blog/waffle-house-strike-highlights-the-harms-of-the-southern-economic-development-model/