June 3, 2024 • 38 mins
Restaurant servers in Massachusetts are pushing for a ballot measure that would require restaurants to pay their tipped workers the state’s minimum hourly wage of $15, before gratuities. Currently, many restaurants pay their servers less than half of the minimum hourly wage and use tips to make up the difference. Should servers receive the state’s minimum wage before gratuities? Steve Clark, President & CEO of the MA Restaurant Association joined to discuss.
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(00:00):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray onw b Z Boston's Radio. All Right,
interesting article on the front page ofthe Boston Globe today. It's an
issue that we have not touched,but I felt it might be time for
us to talk touch touch this topic, and that is service a pushing in
(00:21):
Massachusetts for a minimum wage at restaurants. Before we get to my guest,
I just wanted to if I couldagain, I rushed off. Larry called
around. Want to thank for himfor the time he gave us tonight also
to Tomorrow night at nine o'clock,we're going to be talking with the Chancellor
of Vanderbilt University, Daniel Deermyer.A lot of college presidents of universities have
(00:44):
gotten into some trouble, as youknow, at Harvard and MIT and University
of Pennsylvania and elsewhere. I'm reallylooking forward to talking with the Chancellor of
Vanderbilt University, Daniel Deermyer. Interestingguy, going to be a lot of
fun to talk with. On Whennesdaynight, we'll be talking with John Deaton.
He's a Republican candidate to take ElizabethWarren bring her back to Cambridge and
(01:07):
back to Harvard Law School out ofthe US Senate. He'll be with us
at nine o'clock on Wednesday night.We'll talk with folks dealing with the new
shelter that the state hopes to putout in Norfolk. And then on Thursday
night at nine o'clock, going totalk with Brent Chapman about the new practice
of giving money and lots of moneyto college athletes. I'm not so sure
(01:30):
about that. And then on Fridaynight at ten o'clock, doctor Scott Bond,
who's an expert on serial killers andhe was a fascinating brief guest during
the eight o'clock hour last week,and he'll be back on Friday night at
ten o'clock. So we've got alot planned. I don't promote my guest
as much as I should, andI apologize for that. And I also
apologize to my current guest who's waitinga few extra seconds, Steve Clark.
(01:53):
Steve is the president and CEO ofthe Massachusetts Restaurant Association. Steve Clark,
I don't think i've had the honorof having you on this program before,
so first formally, officially, welcometo Nightside, Dan. Thank you very
much for having me on, andI appreciate that long list of illustrious guests
that you just rattled off, andI'm happy to play a small role and
(02:15):
have a conversation with you tonight.Well, I think it's an important issue
because, look, it's tough forrestaurants these days, really tough for restaurants
these days. The margins, theprofit margins are getting tighter. There's all
sorts of issues that restaurants deal with. They've survived the pandemic COVID, but
(02:39):
now they're really facing a problem inthat they apparently are going to be required
to pay fifteen dollars an hour ifthis ballot provision passes to their employees,
to the weight staff. And Ican look at it from one and say,
(03:00):
well, it's just another cost that'spiled on the restaurant. You look
at it the other way. Andright now, if a restaurant server comes
in and doesn't make they're paid sixseventy five. But don't the restaurants make
it up in tips if the tipsthat night fall a little short. Explain
to us how it works at thispoint, and the yeah, let's see,
(03:22):
so you're one hundred percent right.And then one of the things I
just want to correct. The recordfor is that this is coming from service.
This is not coming from service.This is coming from an activist group
from California. He's trying to bringCalifornia policies to Massachusetts. But the rule
in Massachusetts is a server is requiredto make minimum wage. It is a
federal law, it is a statelaw. And that is if we went
(03:44):
to a restaurant tonight and nobody wasthere and the server was there and they
worked four hours, they'd be requiredto make fifteen dollars for each of those
hours worked. That's the law thatis required and if there's very stiff penalties
if that doesn't happen. Reality isthe servers of the highest earners in the
restaurant and the service themselves have comeout and said they don't want this ballot
(04:08):
question. They don't need to besaved. They recognize that they're making that
the system works for them. Andif this ballot question passes, it's going
to impact three piers. It's goingto impact the server themselves, who's going
to make less money. It's goingto impact the restaurant owner, who's going
to have higher costs upwards of eighteenthousand dollars per tip. Employee to implement
(04:29):
this, and it's going to havea higher cost for the consumer because there's
going to be higher costs. Andthis same exact proposal has just taken effect
in Washington, DC and in justnine months of having this proposal, waitstaff
jobs are down three thousand jobs injust DC alone, and every single restaurant
has a twenty or twenty five percentthird charge tacked onto the bill. So
(04:51):
it's a bad idea all around becauseit's going to impact the servers, the
owners, and the customers. Sois there in Massachusetts a the servers union
or anything like that, or dothey have obviously wait staff, servers whatever
we used to call them waiters andwaitresses, whatever the appropriate characterization is today.
(05:13):
Did they have unions, you know, across the board or did they
have unions if they happen to workat a big restaurant, So they're generally
not unionized. But they really fascinatingthing about this ballot question is the union
that represents hotel workers and they werequoted in the Globe article today they are
actually split on this question. Theyare very concerned there's a provision in the
ballot question that not only deals withserver wages. But it deals with how
(05:38):
tips get shared, and it's goingto completely change the tip sharing rules in
Massachusetts. Like forever, the ruleshave been that the tips belong to the
servers themselves, the bartenders and theservers. Yeah, this provision would actually
allow the restaurant owner to decide whogets the tips, So it could go
to the back of the house,it could go to the cleaning staff,
it could go to the accountant.And so the servers themselves don't want that.
(06:00):
So the Hospitality Union set in thepaper today they don't like that provision.
So there's really a number of people, whether it's employers or employees that
don't want this. Well, youknow, it's funny when I go to
a restaurant, I'm a standard tipis going to be twenty percent. But
if someone is really good, orif you know, I'm having breakfast with
someone and it's twenty five dollars,I'll say to the other person, give
(06:25):
me twenty. I'll throw in twenty. The servant gets fifteen bucks on a
twenty five dollars tab. You know, on a percentage basis, that's pretty
good. It's a sixty percent tip. If I'm doing my math right,
but if you get great service,I want that to go to the person
who gave me the great service.I don't necessarily want it to be spread
around on a per person basis.I give that to that exactly, Yeah,
(06:51):
exactly, And the server doesn't wantto share it split it around either.
So now you're changing the entire economicrelationship that exists in the restaurant worked.
And I've had service come up tome because this has been on and
off in the news for the lastcouple of months. I've had service country
and say, this is absurd.What are you doing to stop this?
And I had one server that actuallyworks in the type of restaurant that the
(07:13):
paced structure of what's being presented.He said, I can't believe we switched.
I wish we went back. Iwant to go back to a tip
process. I need more money.I was able to control my section.
Now, you know, basically everyonemakes the same amount of money, regardless
of your service, regardless of whatyou're doing, regardless of your longevity.
And so they talk about one fairwage, it's really one flat wage.
(07:35):
And that's really the system that theactivists are trying to put into place.
Steve, We're gonna We're gonna throwthe phone number out here. I have
a few more questions. I hopepeople will call in. If you are
somebody who works in this business leftto get your perspective on it's six one
seven, two, five, fourto ten thirty or six one seven nine
three one ten thirty. Those arethe two best numbers that will get you
(07:56):
through. My guest is Steve Clark. If Steve is there and CEO of
the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. I haven'teven asked you yet. I will when
I come back. The breadth ofthe organization, how many restaurants you represent,
et cetera. We have all sortsof questions, and I'm hoping that
our audience will join the conversation aswell. Here on nightside, it's a
(08:16):
Monday night. If you are arestaurant owner, love to get your perspective,
if you work at a restaurant inany capacity, to get your perspective,
or if you're somebody who goes torestaurants. This is one that affects
everybody within the sound of my voice. Unless you always eat at home and
you've never had nothing, had anythingto do with or any sort of a
restaurant that would be the only peoplewho do not have a dog in this
(08:37):
fight. Coming back on Nightside.Now, back to Dan Ray live from
the Window World Nightside Studios on WBZNews Radio. My guest here on Nightside
is Steve Clark. He's the presidentCEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. Steve
real, quickly, how many restaurantsdoes your organization represent? And I human's,
(09:00):
if not the biggest, one ofthe biggest groups representing restaurants across Massachusetts.
It is the largest restaurant trade association. We have about twenty two hundred
members that represent about fifty five hundredlocations across Massachusetts. Fifty five hundred locations,
is that what you said? That'scorrect. So you go literally from
(09:22):
a mom and pop restaurant all theway up to the biggest restaurants that probably
most of us would know the namesof. You have a wide, wide
range of restaurant We have a wideconstituency. But you know, at the
end of the day, we're justtrying to advance the cause of all the
restaurants and make Massachusetts a better placefor those restaurants to thrive. Okay,
(09:43):
let's go to phone calls and let'ssee what I still have questions, but
I always would prefer to hear frommy listeners. Give them an opportunity to
speak to someone and with particular expertise. Let's start off with Bo and Franklin.
Bo, Welcome to Knights Att.How are you sir? Good sir?
How are you guys? Good eveningevening? Steve, Hey, Bo,
how are you? I'm doing well. I'd like to just give a
(10:05):
little bit of a different perspective.Yet it's the same thing. Been in
the restaurant industry for over thirty yearson many restaurants, and here's what I've
seen, and here's something that I'mreally overly concerned with, and it made
me actually change my dynamic and howI'm approaching a restaurant business moving forward.
Part of the problem that I'm seeingis, you know, it was let's
(10:26):
say eighty percent cash, eighty percentcredit cards fifteen years ago. That's obviously
flipped. And it's probably you know, twenty percent cards, and you know
eighty percent debit cards. You know, eighty percent debit cards, twenty percent
cash. It's completely flipped. Sowhat my whole problem was is, you
(10:48):
know, we're we're running ten serverslet's say, and you know, it
started at two sixty three an hour. Everybody's making money and like like see
it said, the servers are happy. And one major thing that I think
is the big push for this isthe fact that now that everything is on
the systems and the computers and it'smore transparent as far as what these servers
(11:09):
are making per shift and it's beingrecorded as such, their their checks would
normally be zeroed out, like likeit would be zeroed out because of what
they're making is so small based offof what they're supposed to be paying in
taxes, that there was nothing leftin their check anyway. So what I
actually see as being is more soof of of a money grab. It
(11:31):
may be that that it's originating inCalifornia and that maybe the whole thing.
But the thing that I just findi'm incredibly ironic is you know, if
a server is making let's say,five hundred dollars a day, which like
Steve knows that that's not that's notunheard of. It could be very common
for a breakfast service to be makingfive hundred dollars a day, why are
(11:52):
they getting paid or gonna be gettingpaid? Fifteen dollars an hour, where
like like Steve says, it's justgonna it's gonna put such a damper on
the on the business side of it, on the restaurant side, where they're
already covered. And what I thinkthe real thing that's going on here is
that they're putting more money in thesepeople's checks so that at the end of
the year they don't have to waitfor you know, Mike or Jill to
(12:15):
pay the taxes and everything at theend of the year because they know about
it. They know about it throughthe reporting and the payroll. They know
how much these people are supposed tobe paying in taxes, and because they're
not getting a check with with asubstantial hourly amount, the state and the
government doesn't have anything to pull outof, if you will. So I
feel as if that's what's going on. I feel as if it's just more
(12:37):
so to keep the tax dollars going, which I understand they obviously need to
be there, we need to workhand in hand with the state. But
at the same time, I believefrom somebody that's been in the restaurant is
for numerous years, it's killing thebusiness. It's it's really hurting the business
bad. It was bad when theymoved. It's a six seventy or wherever
(12:58):
it was. But it's just unjustifiablebecause if you have employees, and I'll
end with this, if you haveemployees that have been there year after year,
year after year, they're showing thatthey're that they're making quadruple minimum wage,
why is the business owners being forcedto pay this absurd amount of money
And it's it's really hindering. Uh, it's just bad. I don't see
(13:22):
it being good at all. There'sthere's no good to this at all.
And if they allow it to gothrough, I don't know what's going to
happen, but it's making me rethinkhow many restaurants I want to particularly own.
So let makes sure I understand whatyou're saying. You know, you
know the restaurant business. Steve knowsthe restaurant business. I know the restaurant
business as a customer. What you'resaying is that if this passes and the
(13:43):
waiters and waitresses get the wait staffgets the money that we're talking about fifteen
dollars an hour they work forty hoursa week, that's six hundred dollars from
the So what I'm saying, isis the reason why they're forcing and get
these people to get paid. Thatis, so there's money left in the
check every two weeks, every weekor whatever, so that the state can
(14:05):
pull it out in taxes. Yeah. Yeah, and well not only the
state but the federal government. Andthen yeah, okay, and I agree
with it. Let's see what Stevesays. Steve, so I agree with
almost everything both said from the beginning, where you know, more and more
transactions have been switched to credit card. The one thing that I would not
(14:26):
push back on, but just offerfor consideration is so this is actually and
the government has never met an excuseto not tack something that they that they
couldn't. Fact, this has actuallybeen rejected by the legislature ten years in
a row. So the legislature recognizesthis as a bad idea and a negative
impact to restaurants. The people fromCalifornia have actually spent the money to bring
this to a ballot, So thisis a ballot question being brought by these
(14:50):
people. This is not coming fromthe state House. The state House has
rejected this idea for years. Sowhile I would I see the rationale of
why that could be the the ultimateimpact. I don't think that's the cause
because the legislatures, I said,sure, has rejected this. So why
do you think California. By theway, I just want to defend the
government here. The government only taxestwo things, gentlemen. Everything anything that
(15:13):
moves in anything that doesn't move.It's as simple as that, I think.
Okay. So, I mean,we have a lot of people are
critical of the government is being tooavaricious, and you know, if they
could figure out another category, I'msure that tax that as well. So
why is a group in California which, by the way I read tonight,
there's some major restaurants that just closed. I think about forty restaurants in California.
(15:35):
It sounded like as I think,there's a lot of whys with California,
and I think you could sit hereall night and talk about it.
You gentlemen. I want to saythank you very much for having me tonight.
I appreciate it. Well to listento the show. Very informative.
Have a great night. Thank youall right, Paul, thanks very much.
So Steve, come back to myquestion, what interest does California have
(15:56):
in how No, it's not necessarilyCalifornia itself. It's the activists that have
built the cottage industry of going aroundand doing this. They've actually filed ballot
questions in four states and they filedlegislative proposals in twenty five states. The
leader of this organization has exorberant speakerfees when she goes out and speaks on
this issue, and she's turned itinto a cottage industry where she's basically challenging
(16:18):
the status quo in her mind,and she's trying to bring California policies to
Massachusetts. So it's not a soin her mind, she's doing well by
doing good. She's doing well bydoing good. Absolutely. Okay, Save
Clark is my guest. We're talkingabout waiters, waitresses, people who are
(16:41):
servers in Massachusetts. Now. Theyare paid below the minimum wage if they
do not earn enough tips on anyshift. So they could have a bad
Monday night and come up a fewdollars short and they're brought up to fifteen
dollars by the restaurant as I understandit, Yeah, that's the law.
(17:03):
That is the that is the lawboth federally and uh in the state.
Okay, so the next night theycould have like a great night, and
they could, they could triple theirwhatever get you know, just have a
great There's no offset here. Theolder con say, gee, I paid
you twenty bucks last night because youwere short on your four hours shift by
(17:23):
a five dollars an hour, buttonight you're like eighty dollars an hour.
You just hit a home run tonight. He that the restaurant only gets nothing
back, right, it's it's therestaurant only only gets the benefit of a
busy night in the operation, wherewith the servers are coming in and making
a lot of gratuities. But that'swhy the servers want the job that they're
(17:45):
in. They're choosing to work inthis industry because they can get a lot
of hour, a lot of dollarsper hour in a very limited hours working
and that's why it's the perfect industryfor for working mothers, for second job
earners, and people that have reliedon tips to educate families and buy homes,
and they're choosing to do this.So yeah, but yes, the
(18:07):
answer question, yes, if it'sa quiet Monday and a busy Tuesday,
there's no retroactive clawback for the operator. Okay, we'll take a break My
guest is Steve Clark. He's thepresident and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
We have this is our first timelooking at this ballid question. This,
if they get the requisite number ofsignatures, will be on the ballot
(18:29):
come November. As I understand thathere in Massachusetts, Correk Dave. The
only other roadblock to them is thatthe mass Restaurant Association has filed a lawsuit
on the challenge on the certification ofthe question, because they're actually asking two
separate questions. They're asking one questionwhat is the wage that a service should
be paid? And the second questionis where should the tips be gone?
And ballid questions, by rules,should only be one question that the voter
(18:55):
can decide. So we have apending lawsuit with the s JC, which
we expect resolution on the next coupleof weeks. U So that is one
other way that the question could notappear on the battle Okay, But I'm
just I think the more we talkabout it now, I want people to
be aware. The only is oneline open at six one, seven,
two, five, four to tenthirty and one line open at six one,
(19:15):
seven, nine, three, oneten thirty. Feel free if you
have a different point of view atthe same point of view. All points
of view will welcome here at nightsI come on right back right after this,
It's Nights Side with Dan Ray onBoston's news Radio. My guess as
Steve Clark, President and CEO ofthe Massachusetts Restaurant Association. Back to the
(19:37):
calls we go. We gonna gonext to Jack in in something I'll leave
twenty five Jack. Hello, HiJACKO. Are you sounds like you were
trying to put a bed in therewith with DraftKings or something. Thirty Jack
ready to go? Okay, rightat him. I know you guys.
(20:00):
Your guest has called these people activists. They and you and I, well,
I would call them a radical democratsbecause they always restored. They they
always get in the way of thenatural order of things, always when they're
when they want all these regulations inbusiness. What they do is they destroy
jobs, they destroy incomes, andthey destroy businesses. Things have happened,
(20:21):
Things have run pretty well as faras the tip, the tips in the
restaurant business for years. Two goodfriends of mine have owned seven restaurants over
the past forty years in New England. And when when people came into a
restaurant. They want good food,and they want good service, and they
want prompt service and a courteous waiter. I always like you dan, and
(20:44):
your UH and your guest. Ialways tip twenty percent unless, and this
is important, those few times awaiter of a waitress is crass, are
rude, are very slow, couldgive a damn. I will not tip
that server. They good. Yeah, so what I say that's a reasonable
position. Yes, because I alwaystook very good I appreciate good food and
(21:08):
good service. Now I want toask your guests a question. Sometimes you
run up against well, you runup against terrible, terrible food for that
night and an average weight off.How would you handle that? Well?
I think I think it's worth aconversation outside the lines of a busy night,
(21:33):
of reaching out and having a conversationwith the manager. You know,
maybe you want to call the managerover there and have a conversation. But
you know, restaurants always have aphone networks, and they have an email
line, and I think if they'redoing something wrong, they want to hear
from you, and so you know, I wouldn't. I don't necessarily think
you need to take the complaints publicand put it on social media and create
a negative backlash. But you know, having a reach out to a manager
(21:55):
and say, hey, you know, I was really concerned about my service
that happened on Friday night, oryou know, my stake was overcooked.
You know, I think they wantto hear that feedback, and I think
they ultimately want to serve the guestand make it a better experience of the
guests. So that would be myadvice is is to handle it gently.
But I think if you raise yourconcerns, I think you're going to see
results. Yeah, I think you'reabsolutely right. I would raise a concern
(22:19):
first with the server. Hopefully theserver would pass it on to the chef
or the cook or the owner,and they would get back to you.
And in most cases, not all, but most cases, the owner or
the manager will come over and probablyinvite you to a free meal the next
time you come in or something likethat. And things have run smoothly in
the restaurant business for years. There'salways problems in every restaurant business. But
(22:42):
as soon as the radical Democrats gethold of an idea, they want to
integrate and they want to regulate andthey want to pose their radical ideas on
every single business, including the restaurantbusiness. Then what happens, Like you
said, it hurts the server.It hurts the business. They have to
raise prices, and it really isan entirely negative aspect of everything. It's
(23:06):
run. It's run well for many, many years. Let's stop interfering with
the natural marketplace. And that's whatdemocrats do. They interfere with the natural
marketplace. And that's why this countryhas a major problem with regulations. Too
many regulations, all right, SoI would just add, I would just
add to your point is that therestaurant industry is the most competitive industry in
(23:30):
America, maybe in the world,but there are so many different opportunities for
a consumer to consume food. Therestaurant industry is not only competing with itself,
but it's competing with grocery stores,it's competing with deliveries, competing with
Amazon. So ultimately it's striving todo the best on behalf of the guests.
So I just thought that, andyou're right. And these these radicals,
these radicals who want to pass allimpose all these regulations, don't really
(23:52):
I know firsthand. Two good friendsof mine have owned many restaurants. It's
a it's a it's a business whichrequires you to be on on duty twenty
four to seven from your home,from your work. It's a very tough
business. It's very competitive. Youwork your keyster off to service the public.
And let's leave these restaurant owners alone. Let's leave the service alone,
(24:17):
let them, let them live ontheir merit, and let the restaurants live
on their food. Enough set soundsgreat. Appreciate Jack, Thank you much.
Yep, there's a man with apoint of view, straight and straight,
straight to the punt, right tothe point. Patrick and Charlestown.
Next on Nightside, Patrick with SteveClark, President CEO of the Mass Restaurant
(24:37):
Association. By you don't guys,Hey, so that last guy, I'm
sure that he would have been finedwith the factories of Lowell and Lawrence.
Come on, you hope you attackat previous callers that he's not here to
defend himself. I'm going to justsay, Patrick, if someone takes a
shot at you, but go ahead, make your pointble, just don't attack,
don't attack the other callers. Goahead. Yeah, I'll tell you
(24:59):
what. I'll tell you what.I'll attack the point of view. So
the idea that we don't need regulationto protect workers is what led to having
children in factories in Fall River andin New Bedford and in Lawrence and Lowell,
and that idea is simply ridiculous.We need regulation. Anyone who says
they don't probably owns a restaurant,and that's why they're calling it right.
(25:21):
So if I may follow up,listen, let's give Steve an opportunity to
respond to that point. That's agood point, but I think Steve will
probably want to suggest that there isother than restaurant owners who are not happy
about this. Go ahead, Steve, Yeah, I don't think I don't
need to get into the need forregulation. I mean, listen, regulation
(25:41):
is an important part of doing business, and part of the stuff we do
is helping restaurant owners comply with regulationsthat are out there, their regulations throughout
the restaurant. The restaurant is probablythe most highly regulated industry outside of healthcare
that we have when you talk aboutfood safety and alcohol safety, et cetera.
So there's a number of people thatwould be opposed to this proposal,
(26:03):
and it's not just restaurant owners.The MRA is a survey of servers,
and ninety one percent of servers respondedthat they don't want to see the existing
system change. So it's not justrestaurant owners, it's the servers themselves.
Yeah, just like they said,Carter was going to be bragging too.
So those surveys are great. Butanyways, let me put up my point.
My point is that this entire ideathat we can pay waters and waitresses
(26:27):
whatever it is, now to sixtythree an hour or whatever it is,
seventy five, it's six seventy five, is the wad right, all right,
six seventy five. I apologize it'sstill nonetheless with a minimum or the
minimum of fifteen guarantees. Yeah,yeah, well, let me finish my
point fifty that that idea that youthink fifteen dollars an hour in the Boston
(26:47):
area is sufficient highlights my point.The idea is we think of as and
waitresses as second class citizens. Whathappens is with that minimum wage, they
can't even pay for health insurance.They can't many of them all money at
the end of the year, theyall money for state and federal taxes because
the money that they earned in wageswasn't sufficient to pay for their for their
(27:10):
measly benefits if they have any,which most likely they don't, and their
taxes they end up having to paybecause you get paid sole little money.
They can't even pay their taxes.Patrick, let me ask you this.
Let me ask you this. Assumingthat that weight staff people all declare you
know their income fully and all ofthat no problem in your opinion, what
(27:33):
should a waiter or a waitress makeworking at a restaurant, you know,
a middle sized restaurant. I'm nottalking about, you know, the high
end restaurant down on the waterfront thatI'm not talking about a mom and pop.
What do you think at a reasonablerate of income should be guaranteed for
(27:53):
a weight staff person. I thinkit varies by the level of service,
in the level of restaurant, becauseI think that we don't view these people
as real professionals. And if yougo to certain restaurants, Patrick, give
me a range. You have obviouslya strong point of view. I just
would love to find out what youfeel the range should be. Right.
No, I know a little bitabout regulation in this industry, but just
(28:17):
so you know, I'm sure I'mchallenging. I'm curious what you think the
range. I know a lot aboutthis business. Guys, so we were
established at Patrick patrickck Patrick, weknow that you know a lot about this
business. Patrick, we accept that, we stipulate to that that you know
a lot about the restaurant business.My question is, if you were just
(28:41):
listen to my question, Patrick,I'd appreciate it because then you might answer
it. What should the range ofsalary be for waitsaff people? Just give
me a range from the minute fromthe bare minimum wage to infinity, just
like with anybody else. Okay,so therefore we should have wait So what
you're telling me you know a lotabout the business. We should have waiters
(29:02):
and waitresses who are making five milliondollars a year, ten million dollars a
year because pro pro baseball players andpro basketball players make that you're showing me
a lot about your knowledge of theindustry. Patrick, Yes, say if
you want to respond to that.So, so Patrick, Patrick, let
me this. So you should actuallybe opposed to this proposal, because this
(29:23):
proposal is to pay the servers justminimum wage and share the tips with everybody
else. The service right now aremaking twenty thirty forty fifty dollars an hour.
So this proposal is going to flattenthe wage and make everyone paid minimum
wage. No server is a minimumwage worker. Servers are making far an
excess of minimum wage. So youshould be a bar tomorrow smorrow. So
(29:48):
by the way that puts that partof the proposal, I'll agree with you
as ridiculous. But the idea thatit's time for servers and waiters and waitresses
to get paid a minimum wage andthen be allowed to earn tips. Some
of these waiters and waitresses even haveto share their tips with other people,
which is a big provision of thisbill. Right, that's what it's going
to go over. That shows howlittle lobbying power waiters and waitresses and bartenders
(30:11):
have in this industry. They have. Well, I'm going to be again,
what should the minimum wage be inyour opinion for waiters who want I
think that they should get their fifteenplus and if people want to tip them,
they tip them. That's this profession, just like being an accountant or
being a nurse. It is anoble profession. It takes years of experience.
(30:32):
Some of these at the good Restaurantsstand, some of these people make
six figures and they deserve it,and we shouldn't be saying, oh,
you have people making a lot ofmoney. It's just like any other profession.
Yeah, they're different. It's alittle different in that it is a
profession in which you learned the professionon the job, unlike a nurse who
probably has to go to college forfour to six years or whatever. And
(30:55):
therefore it has to pay to thebest of my knowledge, and you know
the profession better than I do.There's probably no university universities in this country
that give degrees in waytologies, soit's it's a little different. You got
you gotta got some serious qualifications todo that. At any event, I
(31:18):
appreciate bolt you guys. Okay,thanks both you guys. I'm gonna take
off, Thank you, Thank youvery much. Appreciate your call. Welcome
to my world, his Steve.You know, it's I like caller on
caller, going back and forth.It's it's a fun time. Yeah,
no, I understand that, butsometimes I like to jump in because I
just think about you know, okay, I'm actually trying to think learn what
(31:41):
people think. And you know,again, I think it's a different skill
set that a waitress or a waitress, and there are people. I I
had a a buddy of mine whoI went to high school with, who
made an incredible living working his entirecareer. He went to U Massey Amhurst.
I'm not going to identify soumis premieBoston line, right, suom is
(32:05):
Premi's that's where you assume as premierguy as well, Pertruse. I am
wow. Okay, well I wasway early in the last century, so
we'll leave that alone. But Ihad John Powers, my classmate from the
Boston Globe, on the other night, which was a lot of fun.
Who's, of course, the greatOlympic writer and historian. He spent the
twenty four Olympic Olympiads over his careerwith the Globe, which is just incredible
(32:30):
when you think about it. Butthe point I was trying to make was
one of our classmates spent his entirecareer as a wait staff person at Disney
World and did very very well,had a college degree, but decided to
relocate to Florida, and from whatwe understand, he spent his entire career
(32:52):
working, you know, at DisneyWorld on a professional basis, which is
fine. And there are people,I'm sure in Boston and if there's a
there is out there and want tojoin the conversation. We got a little
bit of rooms. We got totake a quick break. Steve, go
ahead, I think I cut youoff. You're making a point. No,
I was just gonna say. So, there's eighty thousand kipped employees in
the restaurant industry Massachusetts, bartenders andservers. They've all chosen to be in
(33:15):
this industry. And if the industry, if they were not making what they
needed to make, they would gosomeplace else. So you're telling me none
of them were You're telling me thatnone of them were conscripted. Uh,
I would say, they're there.They've all chosen to be here. Ok,
(33:36):
all right, we'll take a break. We can get a couple more
in if you want six one,seven, two, five four, ten
thirty or six one, seven,ninety one, ten thirty. We will
be flipping topics at eleven. Feelfree to join us. We're back back
beat. We will be back rightafter this with Steve Clark, the President
and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Industry. Now back to Dan Ray live from
(33:58):
the Window World. Nice sense toyou. I'm WBZ News Radio. Okay,
let's go to John and Boston John. You were next on, I
said with my guest Steve Clark,president and the CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant
Association. Thanks Dan, and thanksSteve Dan. Politicians love to go out
and right now since COVID, fortypercent of the restaurants and Massachusetts have gone
(34:21):
out of business, and now theywant to create this minimum wage type thing.
It's not a good idea because nowthey're going to it's a restaurant that
with they share tips. I havelots of friends in the restaurant business with
a restaurant that share chips generally speak. It's a classic example why communism doesn't
work because they all get paid thesame, but it rewards the lazy way
(34:43):
to who pretends like he's working inthe back room when he should be helping
the others, and it penalizes theachievement the waiter who really wants to make
sure you get good service. Sothey all get paid the same, it
doesn't work. Government needs to staythe hell out of the restaurant business because
the way things are right now,Steve, you know that the costs cadec
lisic. That's why Red Lobster,California went out of business. The cost
(35:07):
of food, the cost of everything. People aren't going out, and now
government's gonna butt in and and sattelling them how to pay the people.
The people get if they don't wantto work in the restaurant and they go
somewhere else, and uh, it'severyone's a food critic. With the internet
now, as you know, Steve, everyone's gonna get on the internet and
complain about the food or whatever.And pretty soon in the restaurant industry is
(35:30):
going to be nothing but buffets andand all the restaurants are gonna well because
the weight staff are gonna leave,the good weight staff. If this law
goes through, good weight staff aregoing to leave the industry. They're gonna
say enough. It's it's just notbecause it rewards the lazy and penalizes the
achiever. So there's government. Peoplewho know nothing about the business are budding
in again. That's why California.Look at Governor Newslam, he loves to
(35:52):
go out to eat. And thenthey're passing this this California alarm masscuse this
California is going bankrupt. I don'tknow, that's just my opinion. A
good one, good point. Let'sget your response quickly to what John had
to say. Yeah, yeah,you know what, the restaurant industry is
very challenging right now with occupancy costs, food, labor, uh, profitability
(36:15):
as an all time low in therestaurant industry. As I mentioned earlier,
this proposal is going to cost eighteenthousand, five hundred per tipped employee.
And just to the last point,this is happening in DC. Three thousand
weight staff jobs are gone year overyear and just on the first step of
this implementation down in DC. Soit absolutely will have a detrimental effect on
(36:35):
the restaurant industry, no question aboutto seat. It'll destroy. The industry
is being destroyed now with the costof fuel and oil and all the other
costs involved, the cost of havingto pay money for the illegals that are
coming here. And it's like therest people in the restaurant doesn't have no
save how that tax money spent.They just like it's just like this big
(36:58):
government just wants more money, moremoney, and it's going to destroy they
did. They're going to destroy therestaurant industry. It's just going to be
all buff based. That's that's theway, right John, John, you
made great points. Unfortunately, we'reflat out of time, so I gotta
let you go. But it's alwaysgreat to hear your voice. You know
that, Okay, you are alsoa voice of reason. Thanks, John,
appreciate it. Steve. How canfolks get in touch with you?
(37:22):
Is there a website if if thereare any restaurants out there of people who
want to get in touch. Yeah, the mass rest dot org is our
is our website. Lots of informationon not only this valid question, but
a lot of other compliance issues andACT advocacy issues in the restaurant industry.
We just completed an advocacy tour onoutdoor dining and cocktails to go, so
(37:45):
you know, a lot of differentinformation for for restaurants out there, and
we're always happy to be helpful tothe industry any way we can. Okay,
So mass Restaurant dot org. Steve, I enjoyed it very much?
Well, had was that? DidI mistake? You got? Great?
Yep? Good? Okay, greatto have you with us. We'll have
you back. Please keep in touchand we'll stay on top of this issue
(38:07):
as we move towards the ballots inNovember, assuming that it gets on the
ballot. If it doesn't, wecan talk about that as well. Thank
you very much, Steve Dan reallyappreciate you having me on. Have a
great night. Two. We goback right after eleven o'clock news and guess
what Joe Biden is going to dosomething, actually do something regarding the border
stay with US
It's Night Side with Dan Ray onw b Z Boston's Radio. All Right,
interesting article on the front page ofthe Boston Globe today. It's an
issue that we have not touched,but I felt it might be time for
us to talk touch touch this topic, and that is service a pushing in
(00:21):
Massachusetts for a minimum wage at restaurants. Before we get to my guest,
I just wanted to if I couldagain, I rushed off. Larry called
around. Want to thank for himfor the time he gave us tonight also
to Tomorrow night at nine o'clock,we're going to be talking with the Chancellor
of Vanderbilt University, Daniel Deermyer.A lot of college presidents of universities have
(00:44):
gotten into some trouble, as youknow, at Harvard and MIT and University
of Pennsylvania and elsewhere. I'm reallylooking forward to talking with the Chancellor of
Vanderbilt University, Daniel Deermyer. Interestingguy, going to be a lot of
fun to talk with. On Whennesdaynight, we'll be talking with John Deaton.
He's a Republican candidate to take ElizabethWarren bring her back to Cambridge and
(01:07):
back to Harvard Law School out ofthe US Senate. He'll be with us
at nine o'clock on Wednesday night.We'll talk with folks dealing with the new
shelter that the state hopes to putout in Norfolk. And then on Thursday
night at nine o'clock, going totalk with Brent Chapman about the new practice
of giving money and lots of moneyto college athletes. I'm not so sure
(01:30):
about that. And then on Fridaynight at ten o'clock, doctor Scott Bond,
who's an expert on serial killers andhe was a fascinating brief guest during
the eight o'clock hour last week,and he'll be back on Friday night at
ten o'clock. So we've got alot planned. I don't promote my guest
as much as I should, andI apologize for that. And I also
apologize to my current guest who's waitinga few extra seconds, Steve Clark.
(01:53):
Steve is the president and CEO ofthe Massachusetts Restaurant Association. Steve Clark,
I don't think i've had the honorof having you on this program before,
so first formally, officially, welcometo Nightside, Dan. Thank you very
much for having me on, andI appreciate that long list of illustrious guests
that you just rattled off, andI'm happy to play a small role and
(02:15):
have a conversation with you tonight.Well, I think it's an important issue
because, look, it's tough forrestaurants these days, really tough for restaurants
these days. The margins, theprofit margins are getting tighter. There's all
sorts of issues that restaurants deal with. They've survived the pandemic COVID, but
(02:39):
now they're really facing a problem inthat they apparently are going to be required
to pay fifteen dollars an hour ifthis ballot provision passes to their employees,
to the weight staff. And Ican look at it from one and say,
(03:00):
well, it's just another cost that'spiled on the restaurant. You look
at it the other way. Andright now, if a restaurant server comes
in and doesn't make they're paid sixseventy five. But don't the restaurants make
it up in tips if the tipsthat night fall a little short. Explain
to us how it works at thispoint, and the yeah, let's see,
(03:22):
so you're one hundred percent right.And then one of the things I
just want to correct. The recordfor is that this is coming from service.
This is not coming from service.This is coming from an activist group
from California. He's trying to bringCalifornia policies to Massachusetts. But the rule
in Massachusetts is a server is requiredto make minimum wage. It is a
federal law, it is a statelaw. And that is if we went
(03:44):
to a restaurant tonight and nobody wasthere and the server was there and they
worked four hours, they'd be requiredto make fifteen dollars for each of those
hours worked. That's the law thatis required and if there's very stiff penalties
if that doesn't happen. Reality isthe servers of the highest earners in the
restaurant and the service themselves have comeout and said they don't want this ballot
(04:08):
question. They don't need to besaved. They recognize that they're making that
the system works for them. Andif this ballot question passes, it's going
to impact three piers. It's goingto impact the server themselves, who's going
to make less money. It's goingto impact the restaurant owner, who's going
to have higher costs upwards of eighteenthousand dollars per tip. Employee to implement
(04:29):
this, and it's going to havea higher cost for the consumer because there's
going to be higher costs. Andthis same exact proposal has just taken effect
in Washington, DC and in justnine months of having this proposal, waitstaff
jobs are down three thousand jobs injust DC alone, and every single restaurant
has a twenty or twenty five percentthird charge tacked onto the bill. So
(04:51):
it's a bad idea all around becauseit's going to impact the servers, the
owners, and the customers. Sois there in Massachusetts a the servers union
or anything like that, or dothey have obviously wait staff, servers whatever
we used to call them waiters andwaitresses, whatever the appropriate characterization is today.
(05:13):
Did they have unions, you know, across the board or did they
have unions if they happen to workat a big restaurant, So they're generally
not unionized. But they really fascinatingthing about this ballot question is the union
that represents hotel workers and they werequoted in the Globe article today they are
actually split on this question. Theyare very concerned there's a provision in the
ballot question that not only deals withserver wages. But it deals with how
(05:38):
tips get shared, and it's goingto completely change the tip sharing rules in
Massachusetts. Like forever, the ruleshave been that the tips belong to the
servers themselves, the bartenders and theservers. Yeah, this provision would actually
allow the restaurant owner to decide whogets the tips, So it could go
to the back of the house,it could go to the cleaning staff,
it could go to the accountant.And so the servers themselves don't want that.
(06:00):
So the Hospitality Union set in thepaper today they don't like that provision.
So there's really a number of people, whether it's employers or employees that
don't want this. Well, youknow, it's funny when I go to
a restaurant, I'm a standard tipis going to be twenty percent. But
if someone is really good, orif you know, I'm having breakfast with
someone and it's twenty five dollars,I'll say to the other person, give
(06:25):
me twenty. I'll throw in twenty. The servant gets fifteen bucks on a
twenty five dollars tab. You know, on a percentage basis, that's pretty
good. It's a sixty percent tip. If I'm doing my math right,
but if you get great service,I want that to go to the person
who gave me the great service.I don't necessarily want it to be spread
around on a per person basis.I give that to that exactly, Yeah,
(06:51):
exactly, And the server doesn't wantto share it split it around either.
So now you're changing the entire economicrelationship that exists in the restaurant worked.
And I've had service come up tome because this has been on and
off in the news for the lastcouple of months. I've had service country
and say, this is absurd.What are you doing to stop this?
And I had one server that actuallyworks in the type of restaurant that the
(07:13):
paced structure of what's being presented.He said, I can't believe we switched.
I wish we went back. Iwant to go back to a tip
process. I need more money.I was able to control my section.
Now, you know, basically everyonemakes the same amount of money, regardless
of your service, regardless of whatyou're doing, regardless of your longevity.
And so they talk about one fairwage, it's really one flat wage.
(07:35):
And that's really the system that theactivists are trying to put into place.
Steve, We're gonna We're gonna throwthe phone number out here. I have
a few more questions. I hopepeople will call in. If you are
somebody who works in this business leftto get your perspective on it's six one
seven, two, five, fourto ten thirty or six one seven nine
three one ten thirty. Those arethe two best numbers that will get you
(07:56):
through. My guest is Steve Clark. If Steve is there and CEO of
the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. I haven'teven asked you yet. I will when
I come back. The breadth ofthe organization, how many restaurants you represent,
et cetera. We have all sortsof questions, and I'm hoping that
our audience will join the conversation aswell. Here on nightside, it's a
(08:16):
Monday night. If you are arestaurant owner, love to get your perspective,
if you work at a restaurant inany capacity, to get your perspective,
or if you're somebody who goes torestaurants. This is one that affects
everybody within the sound of my voice. Unless you always eat at home and
you've never had nothing, had anythingto do with or any sort of a
restaurant that would be the only peoplewho do not have a dog in this
(08:37):
fight. Coming back on Nightside.Now, back to Dan Ray live from
the Window World Nightside Studios on WBZNews Radio. My guest here on Nightside
is Steve Clark. He's the presidentCEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. Steve
real, quickly, how many restaurantsdoes your organization represent? And I human's,
(09:00):
if not the biggest, one ofthe biggest groups representing restaurants across Massachusetts.
It is the largest restaurant trade association. We have about twenty two hundred
members that represent about fifty five hundredlocations across Massachusetts. Fifty five hundred locations,
is that what you said? That'scorrect. So you go literally from
(09:22):
a mom and pop restaurant all theway up to the biggest restaurants that probably
most of us would know the namesof. You have a wide, wide
range of restaurant We have a wideconstituency. But you know, at the
end of the day, we're justtrying to advance the cause of all the
restaurants and make Massachusetts a better placefor those restaurants to thrive. Okay,
(09:43):
let's go to phone calls and let'ssee what I still have questions, but
I always would prefer to hear frommy listeners. Give them an opportunity to
speak to someone and with particular expertise. Let's start off with Bo and Franklin.
Bo, Welcome to Knights Att.How are you sir? Good sir?
How are you guys? Good eveningevening? Steve, Hey, Bo,
how are you? I'm doing well. I'd like to just give a
(10:05):
little bit of a different perspective.Yet it's the same thing. Been in
the restaurant industry for over thirty yearson many restaurants, and here's what I've
seen, and here's something that I'mreally overly concerned with, and it made
me actually change my dynamic and howI'm approaching a restaurant business moving forward.
Part of the problem that I'm seeingis, you know, it was let's
(10:26):
say eighty percent cash, eighty percentcredit cards fifteen years ago. That's obviously
flipped. And it's probably you know, twenty percent cards, and you know
eighty percent debit cards. You know, eighty percent debit cards, twenty percent
cash. It's completely flipped. Sowhat my whole problem was is, you
(10:48):
know, we're we're running ten serverslet's say, and you know, it
started at two sixty three an hour. Everybody's making money and like like see
it said, the servers are happy. And one major thing that I think
is the big push for this isthe fact that now that everything is on
the systems and the computers and it'smore transparent as far as what these servers
(11:09):
are making per shift and it's beingrecorded as such, their their checks would
normally be zeroed out, like likeit would be zeroed out because of what
they're making is so small based offof what they're supposed to be paying in
taxes, that there was nothing leftin their check anyway. So what I
actually see as being is more soof of of a money grab. It
(11:31):
may be that that it's originating inCalifornia and that maybe the whole thing.
But the thing that I just findi'm incredibly ironic is you know, if
a server is making let's say,five hundred dollars a day, which like
Steve knows that that's not that's notunheard of. It could be very common
for a breakfast service to be makingfive hundred dollars a day, why are
(11:52):
they getting paid or gonna be gettingpaid? Fifteen dollars an hour, where
like like Steve says, it's justgonna it's gonna put such a damper on
the on the business side of it, on the restaurant side, where they're
already covered. And what I thinkthe real thing that's going on here is
that they're putting more money in thesepeople's checks so that at the end of
the year they don't have to waitfor you know, Mike or Jill to
(12:15):
pay the taxes and everything at theend of the year because they know about
it. They know about it throughthe reporting and the payroll. They know
how much these people are supposed tobe paying in taxes, and because they're
not getting a check with with asubstantial hourly amount, the state and the
government doesn't have anything to pull outof, if you will. So I
feel as if that's what's going on. I feel as if it's just more
(12:37):
so to keep the tax dollars going, which I understand they obviously need to
be there, we need to workhand in hand with the state. But
at the same time, I believefrom somebody that's been in the restaurant is
for numerous years, it's killing thebusiness. It's it's really hurting the business
bad. It was bad when theymoved. It's a six seventy or wherever
(12:58):
it was. But it's just unjustifiablebecause if you have employees, and I'll
end with this, if you haveemployees that have been there year after year,
year after year, they're showing thatthey're that they're making quadruple minimum wage,
why is the business owners being forcedto pay this absurd amount of money
And it's it's really hindering. Uh, it's just bad. I don't see
(13:22):
it being good at all. There'sthere's no good to this at all.
And if they allow it to gothrough, I don't know what's going to
happen, but it's making me rethinkhow many restaurants I want to particularly own.
So let makes sure I understand whatyou're saying. You know, you
know the restaurant business. Steve knowsthe restaurant business. I know the restaurant
business as a customer. What you'resaying is that if this passes and the
(13:43):
waiters and waitresses get the wait staffgets the money that we're talking about fifteen
dollars an hour they work forty hoursa week, that's six hundred dollars from
the So what I'm saying, isis the reason why they're forcing and get
these people to get paid. Thatis, so there's money left in the
check every two weeks, every weekor whatever, so that the state can
(14:05):
pull it out in taxes. Yeah. Yeah, and well not only the
state but the federal government. Andthen yeah, okay, and I agree
with it. Let's see what Stevesays. Steve, so I agree with
almost everything both said from the beginning, where you know, more and more
transactions have been switched to credit card. The one thing that I would not
(14:26):
push back on, but just offerfor consideration is so this is actually and
the government has never met an excuseto not tack something that they that they
couldn't. Fact, this has actuallybeen rejected by the legislature ten years in
a row. So the legislature recognizesthis as a bad idea and a negative
impact to restaurants. The people fromCalifornia have actually spent the money to bring
this to a ballot, So thisis a ballot question being brought by these
(14:50):
people. This is not coming fromthe state House. The state House has
rejected this idea for years. Sowhile I would I see the rationale of
why that could be the the ultimateimpact. I don't think that's the cause
because the legislatures, I said,sure, has rejected this. So why
do you think California. By theway, I just want to defend the
government here. The government only taxestwo things, gentlemen. Everything anything that
(15:13):
moves in anything that doesn't move.It's as simple as that, I think.
Okay. So, I mean,we have a lot of people are
critical of the government is being tooavaricious, and you know, if they
could figure out another category, I'msure that tax that as well. So
why is a group in California which, by the way I read tonight,
there's some major restaurants that just closed. I think about forty restaurants in California.
(15:35):
It sounded like as I think,there's a lot of whys with California,
and I think you could sit hereall night and talk about it.
You gentlemen. I want to saythank you very much for having me tonight.
I appreciate it. Well to listento the show. Very informative.
Have a great night. Thank youall right, Paul, thanks very much.
So Steve, come back to myquestion, what interest does California have
(15:56):
in how No, it's not necessarilyCalifornia itself. It's the activists that have
built the cottage industry of going aroundand doing this. They've actually filed ballot
questions in four states and they filedlegislative proposals in twenty five states. The
leader of this organization has exorberant speakerfees when she goes out and speaks on
this issue, and she's turned itinto a cottage industry where she's basically challenging
(16:18):
the status quo in her mind,and she's trying to bring California policies to
Massachusetts. So it's not a soin her mind, she's doing well by
doing good. She's doing well bydoing good. Absolutely. Okay, Save
Clark is my guest. We're talkingabout waiters, waitresses, people who are
(16:41):
servers in Massachusetts. Now. Theyare paid below the minimum wage if they
do not earn enough tips on anyshift. So they could have a bad
Monday night and come up a fewdollars short and they're brought up to fifteen
dollars by the restaurant as I understandit, Yeah, that's the law.
(17:03):
That is the that is the lawboth federally and uh in the state.
Okay, so the next night theycould have like a great night, and
they could, they could triple theirwhatever get you know, just have a
great There's no offset here. Theolder con say, gee, I paid
you twenty bucks last night because youwere short on your four hours shift by
(17:23):
a five dollars an hour, buttonight you're like eighty dollars an hour.
You just hit a home run tonight. He that the restaurant only gets nothing
back, right, it's it's therestaurant only only gets the benefit of a
busy night in the operation, wherewith the servers are coming in and making
a lot of gratuities. But that'swhy the servers want the job that they're
(17:45):
in. They're choosing to work inthis industry because they can get a lot
of hour, a lot of dollarsper hour in a very limited hours working
and that's why it's the perfect industryfor for working mothers, for second job
earners, and people that have reliedon tips to educate families and buy homes,
and they're choosing to do this.So yeah, but yes, the
(18:07):
answer question, yes, if it'sa quiet Monday and a busy Tuesday,
there's no retroactive clawback for the operator. Okay, we'll take a break My
guest is Steve Clark. He's thepresident and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
We have this is our first timelooking at this ballid question. This,
if they get the requisite number ofsignatures, will be on the ballot
(18:29):
come November. As I understand thathere in Massachusetts, Correk Dave. The
only other roadblock to them is thatthe mass Restaurant Association has filed a lawsuit
on the challenge on the certification ofthe question, because they're actually asking two
separate questions. They're asking one questionwhat is the wage that a service should
be paid? And the second questionis where should the tips be gone?
And ballid questions, by rules,should only be one question that the voter
(18:55):
can decide. So we have apending lawsuit with the s JC, which
we expect resolution on the next coupleof weeks. U So that is one
other way that the question could notappear on the battle Okay, But I'm
just I think the more we talkabout it now, I want people to
be aware. The only is oneline open at six one, seven,
two, five, four to tenthirty and one line open at six one,
(19:15):
seven, nine, three, oneten thirty. Feel free if you
have a different point of view atthe same point of view. All points
of view will welcome here at nightsI come on right back right after this,
It's Nights Side with Dan Ray onBoston's news Radio. My guess as
Steve Clark, President and CEO ofthe Massachusetts Restaurant Association. Back to the
(19:37):
calls we go. We gonna gonext to Jack in in something I'll leave
twenty five Jack. Hello, HiJACKO. Are you sounds like you were
trying to put a bed in therewith with DraftKings or something. Thirty Jack
ready to go? Okay, rightat him. I know you guys.
(20:00):
Your guest has called these people activists. They and you and I, well,
I would call them a radical democratsbecause they always restored. They they
always get in the way of thenatural order of things, always when they're
when they want all these regulations inbusiness. What they do is they destroy
jobs, they destroy incomes, andthey destroy businesses. Things have happened,
(20:21):
Things have run pretty well as faras the tip, the tips in the
restaurant business for years. Two goodfriends of mine have owned seven restaurants over
the past forty years in New England. And when when people came into a
restaurant. They want good food,and they want good service, and they
want prompt service and a courteous waiter. I always like you dan, and
(20:44):
your UH and your guest. Ialways tip twenty percent unless, and this
is important, those few times awaiter of a waitress is crass, are
rude, are very slow, couldgive a damn. I will not tip
that server. They good. Yeah, so what I say that's a reasonable
position. Yes, because I alwaystook very good I appreciate good food and
(21:08):
good service. Now I want toask your guests a question. Sometimes you
run up against well, you runup against terrible, terrible food for that
night and an average weight off.How would you handle that? Well?
I think I think it's worth aconversation outside the lines of a busy night,
(21:33):
of reaching out and having a conversationwith the manager. You know,
maybe you want to call the managerover there and have a conversation. But
you know, restaurants always have aphone networks, and they have an email
line, and I think if they'redoing something wrong, they want to hear
from you, and so you know, I wouldn't. I don't necessarily think
you need to take the complaints publicand put it on social media and create
a negative backlash. But you know, having a reach out to a manager
(21:55):
and say, hey, you know, I was really concerned about my service
that happened on Friday night, oryou know, my stake was overcooked.
You know, I think they wantto hear that feedback, and I think
they ultimately want to serve the guestand make it a better experience of the
guests. So that would be myadvice is is to handle it gently.
But I think if you raise yourconcerns, I think you're going to see
results. Yeah, I think you'reabsolutely right. I would raise a concern
(22:19):
first with the server. Hopefully theserver would pass it on to the chef
or the cook or the owner,and they would get back to you.
And in most cases, not all, but most cases, the owner or
the manager will come over and probablyinvite you to a free meal the next
time you come in or something likethat. And things have run smoothly in
the restaurant business for years. There'salways problems in every restaurant business. But
(22:42):
as soon as the radical Democrats gethold of an idea, they want to
integrate and they want to regulate andthey want to pose their radical ideas on
every single business, including the restaurantbusiness. Then what happens, Like you
said, it hurts the server.It hurts the business. They have to
raise prices, and it really isan entirely negative aspect of everything. It's
(23:06):
run. It's run well for many, many years. Let's stop interfering with
the natural marketplace. And that's whatdemocrats do. They interfere with the natural
marketplace. And that's why this countryhas a major problem with regulations. Too
many regulations, all right, SoI would just add, I would just
add to your point is that therestaurant industry is the most competitive industry in
(23:30):
America, maybe in the world,but there are so many different opportunities for
a consumer to consume food. Therestaurant industry is not only competing with itself,
but it's competing with grocery stores,it's competing with deliveries, competing with
Amazon. So ultimately it's striving todo the best on behalf of the guests.
So I just thought that, andyou're right. And these these radicals,
these radicals who want to pass allimpose all these regulations, don't really
(23:52):
I know firsthand. Two good friendsof mine have owned many restaurants. It's
a it's a it's a business whichrequires you to be on on duty twenty
four to seven from your home,from your work. It's a very tough
business. It's very competitive. Youwork your keyster off to service the public.
And let's leave these restaurant owners alone. Let's leave the service alone,
(24:17):
let them, let them live ontheir merit, and let the restaurants live
on their food. Enough set soundsgreat. Appreciate Jack, Thank you much.
Yep, there's a man with apoint of view, straight and straight,
straight to the punt, right tothe point. Patrick and Charlestown.
Next on Nightside, Patrick with SteveClark, President CEO of the Mass Restaurant
(24:37):
Association. By you don't guys,Hey, so that last guy, I'm
sure that he would have been finedwith the factories of Lowell and Lawrence.
Come on, you hope you attackat previous callers that he's not here to
defend himself. I'm going to justsay, Patrick, if someone takes a
shot at you, but go ahead, make your pointble, just don't attack,
don't attack the other callers. Goahead. Yeah, I'll tell you
(24:59):
what. I'll tell you what.I'll attack the point of view. So
the idea that we don't need regulationto protect workers is what led to having
children in factories in Fall River andin New Bedford and in Lawrence and Lowell,
and that idea is simply ridiculous.We need regulation. Anyone who says
they don't probably owns a restaurant,and that's why they're calling it right.
(25:21):
So if I may follow up,listen, let's give Steve an opportunity to
respond to that point. That's agood point, but I think Steve will
probably want to suggest that there isother than restaurant owners who are not happy
about this. Go ahead, Steve, Yeah, I don't think I don't
need to get into the need forregulation. I mean, listen, regulation
(25:41):
is an important part of doing business, and part of the stuff we do
is helping restaurant owners comply with regulationsthat are out there, their regulations throughout
the restaurant. The restaurant is probablythe most highly regulated industry outside of healthcare
that we have when you talk aboutfood safety and alcohol safety, et cetera.
So there's a number of people thatwould be opposed to this proposal,
(26:03):
and it's not just restaurant owners.The MRA is a survey of servers,
and ninety one percent of servers respondedthat they don't want to see the existing
system change. So it's not justrestaurant owners, it's the servers themselves.
Yeah, just like they said,Carter was going to be bragging too.
So those surveys are great. Butanyways, let me put up my point.
My point is that this entire ideathat we can pay waters and waitresses
(26:27):
whatever it is, now to sixtythree an hour or whatever it is,
seventy five, it's six seventy five, is the wad right, all right,
six seventy five. I apologize it'sstill nonetheless with a minimum or the
minimum of fifteen guarantees. Yeah,yeah, well, let me finish my
point fifty that that idea that youthink fifteen dollars an hour in the Boston
(26:47):
area is sufficient highlights my point.The idea is we think of as and
waitresses as second class citizens. Whathappens is with that minimum wage, they
can't even pay for health insurance.They can't many of them all money at
the end of the year, theyall money for state and federal taxes because
the money that they earned in wageswasn't sufficient to pay for their for their
(27:10):
measly benefits if they have any,which most likely they don't, and their
taxes they end up having to paybecause you get paid sole little money.
They can't even pay their taxes.Patrick, let me ask you this.
Let me ask you this. Assumingthat that weight staff people all declare you
know their income fully and all ofthat no problem in your opinion, what
(27:33):
should a waiter or a waitress makeworking at a restaurant, you know,
a middle sized restaurant. I'm nottalking about, you know, the high
end restaurant down on the waterfront thatI'm not talking about a mom and pop.
What do you think at a reasonablerate of income should be guaranteed for
(27:53):
a weight staff person. I thinkit varies by the level of service,
in the level of restaurant, becauseI think that we don't view these people
as real professionals. And if yougo to certain restaurants, Patrick, give
me a range. You have obviouslya strong point of view. I just
would love to find out what youfeel the range should be. Right.
No, I know a little bitabout regulation in this industry, but just
(28:17):
so you know, I'm sure I'mchallenging. I'm curious what you think the
range. I know a lot aboutthis business. Guys, so we were
established at Patrick patrickck Patrick, weknow that you know a lot about this
business. Patrick, we accept that, we stipulate to that that you know
a lot about the restaurant business.My question is, if you were just
(28:41):
listen to my question, Patrick,I'd appreciate it because then you might answer
it. What should the range ofsalary be for waitsaff people? Just give
me a range from the minute fromthe bare minimum wage to infinity, just
like with anybody else. Okay,so therefore we should have wait So what
you're telling me you know a lotabout the business. We should have waiters
(29:02):
and waitresses who are making five milliondollars a year, ten million dollars a
year because pro pro baseball players andpro basketball players make that you're showing me
a lot about your knowledge of theindustry. Patrick, Yes, say if
you want to respond to that.So, so Patrick, Patrick, let
me this. So you should actuallybe opposed to this proposal, because this
(29:23):
proposal is to pay the servers justminimum wage and share the tips with everybody
else. The service right now aremaking twenty thirty forty fifty dollars an hour.
So this proposal is going to flattenthe wage and make everyone paid minimum
wage. No server is a minimumwage worker. Servers are making far an
excess of minimum wage. So youshould be a bar tomorrow smorrow. So
(29:48):
by the way that puts that partof the proposal, I'll agree with you
as ridiculous. But the idea thatit's time for servers and waiters and waitresses
to get paid a minimum wage andthen be allowed to earn tips. Some
of these waiters and waitresses even haveto share their tips with other people,
which is a big provision of thisbill. Right, that's what it's going
to go over. That shows howlittle lobbying power waiters and waitresses and bartenders
(30:11):
have in this industry. They have. Well, I'm going to be again,
what should the minimum wage be inyour opinion for waiters who want I
think that they should get their fifteenplus and if people want to tip them,
they tip them. That's this profession, just like being an accountant or
being a nurse. It is anoble profession. It takes years of experience.
(30:32):
Some of these at the good Restaurantsstand, some of these people make
six figures and they deserve it,and we shouldn't be saying, oh,
you have people making a lot ofmoney. It's just like any other profession.
Yeah, they're different. It's alittle different in that it is a
profession in which you learned the professionon the job, unlike a nurse who
probably has to go to college forfour to six years or whatever. And
(30:55):
therefore it has to pay to thebest of my knowledge, and you know
the profession better than I do.There's probably no university universities in this country
that give degrees in waytologies, soit's it's a little different. You got
you gotta got some serious qualifications todo that. At any event, I
(31:18):
appreciate bolt you guys. Okay,thanks both you guys. I'm gonna take
off, Thank you, Thank youvery much. Appreciate your call. Welcome
to my world, his Steve.You know, it's I like caller on
caller, going back and forth.It's it's a fun time. Yeah,
no, I understand that, butsometimes I like to jump in because I
just think about you know, okay, I'm actually trying to think learn what
(31:41):
people think. And you know,again, I think it's a different skill
set that a waitress or a waitress, and there are people. I I
had a a buddy of mine whoI went to high school with, who
made an incredible living working his entirecareer. He went to U Massey Amhurst.
I'm not going to identify soumis premieBoston line, right, suom is
(32:05):
Premi's that's where you assume as premierguy as well, Pertruse. I am
wow. Okay, well I wasway early in the last century, so
we'll leave that alone. But Ihad John Powers, my classmate from the
Boston Globe, on the other night, which was a lot of fun.
Who's, of course, the greatOlympic writer and historian. He spent the
twenty four Olympic Olympiads over his careerwith the Globe, which is just incredible
(32:30):
when you think about it. Butthe point I was trying to make was
one of our classmates spent his entirecareer as a wait staff person at Disney
World and did very very well,had a college degree, but decided to
relocate to Florida, and from whatwe understand, he spent his entire career
(32:52):
working, you know, at DisneyWorld on a professional basis, which is
fine. And there are people,I'm sure in Boston and if there's a
there is out there and want tojoin the conversation. We got a little
bit of rooms. We got totake a quick break. Steve, go
ahead, I think I cut youoff. You're making a point. No,
I was just gonna say. So, there's eighty thousand kipped employees in
the restaurant industry Massachusetts, bartenders andservers. They've all chosen to be in
(33:15):
this industry. And if the industry, if they were not making what they
needed to make, they would gosomeplace else. So you're telling me none
of them were You're telling me thatnone of them were conscripted. Uh,
I would say, they're there.They've all chosen to be here. Ok,
(33:36):
all right, we'll take a break. We can get a couple more
in if you want six one,seven, two, five four, ten
thirty or six one, seven,ninety one, ten thirty. We will
be flipping topics at eleven. Feelfree to join us. We're back back
beat. We will be back rightafter this with Steve Clark, the President
and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Industry. Now back to Dan Ray live from
(33:58):
the Window World. Nice sense toyou. I'm WBZ News Radio. Okay,
let's go to John and Boston John. You were next on, I
said with my guest Steve Clark,president and the CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant
Association. Thanks Dan, and thanksSteve Dan. Politicians love to go out
and right now since COVID, fortypercent of the restaurants and Massachusetts have gone
(34:21):
out of business, and now theywant to create this minimum wage type thing.
It's not a good idea because nowthey're going to it's a restaurant that
with they share tips. I havelots of friends in the restaurant business with
a restaurant that share chips generally speak. It's a classic example why communism doesn't
work because they all get paid thesame, but it rewards the lazy way
(34:43):
to who pretends like he's working inthe back room when he should be helping
the others, and it penalizes theachievement the waiter who really wants to make
sure you get good service. Sothey all get paid the same, it
doesn't work. Government needs to staythe hell out of the restaurant business because
the way things are right now,Steve, you know that the costs cadec
lisic. That's why Red Lobster,California went out of business. The cost
(35:07):
of food, the cost of everything. People aren't going out, and now
government's gonna butt in and and sattelling them how to pay the people.
The people get if they don't wantto work in the restaurant and they go
somewhere else, and uh, it'severyone's a food critic. With the internet
now, as you know, Steve, everyone's gonna get on the internet and
complain about the food or whatever.And pretty soon in the restaurant industry is
(35:30):
going to be nothing but buffets andand all the restaurants are gonna well because
the weight staff are gonna leave,the good weight staff. If this law
goes through, good weight staff aregoing to leave the industry. They're gonna
say enough. It's it's just notbecause it rewards the lazy and penalizes the
achiever. So there's government. Peoplewho know nothing about the business are budding
in again. That's why California.Look at Governor Newslam, he loves to
(35:52):
go out to eat. And thenthey're passing this this California alarm masscuse this
California is going bankrupt. I don'tknow, that's just my opinion. A
good one, good point. Let'sget your response quickly to what John had
to say. Yeah, yeah,you know what, the restaurant industry is
very challenging right now with occupancy costs, food, labor, uh, profitability
(36:15):
as an all time low in therestaurant industry. As I mentioned earlier,
this proposal is going to cost eighteenthousand, five hundred per tipped employee.
And just to the last point,this is happening in DC. Three thousand
weight staff jobs are gone year overyear and just on the first step of
this implementation down in DC. Soit absolutely will have a detrimental effect on
(36:35):
the restaurant industry, no question aboutto seat. It'll destroy. The industry
is being destroyed now with the costof fuel and oil and all the other
costs involved, the cost of havingto pay money for the illegals that are
coming here. And it's like therest people in the restaurant doesn't have no
save how that tax money spent.They just like it's just like this big
(36:58):
government just wants more money, moremoney, and it's going to destroy they
did. They're going to destroy therestaurant industry. It's just going to be
all buff based. That's that's theway, right John, John, you
made great points. Unfortunately, we'reflat out of time, so I gotta
let you go. But it's alwaysgreat to hear your voice. You know
that, Okay, you are alsoa voice of reason. Thanks, John,
appreciate it. Steve. How canfolks get in touch with you?
(37:22):
Is there a website if if thereare any restaurants out there of people who
want to get in touch. Yeah, the mass rest dot org is our
is our website. Lots of informationon not only this valid question, but
a lot of other compliance issues andACT advocacy issues in the restaurant industry.
We just completed an advocacy tour onoutdoor dining and cocktails to go, so
(37:45):
you know, a lot of differentinformation for for restaurants out there, and
we're always happy to be helpful tothe industry any way we can. Okay,
So mass Restaurant dot org. Steve, I enjoyed it very much?
Well, had was that? DidI mistake? You got? Great?
Yep? Good? Okay, greatto have you with us. We'll have
you back. Please keep in touchand we'll stay on top of this issue
(38:07):
as we move towards the ballots inNovember, assuming that it gets on the
ballot. If it doesn't, wecan talk about that as well. Thank
you very much, Steve Dan reallyappreciate you having me on. Have a
great night. Two. We goback right after eleven o'clock news and guess
what Joe Biden is going to dosomething, actually do something regarding the border
stay with US
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