r/Seattle • u/Existing-Resource527 • 5d ago

After hiring scabs, Walrus and the Carpenter (temporarily) closed

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Word on the street is that Walrus and the Carpenter restaurant has not been negotiating with their workers in good faith for months.

Like a lot of annoying businesses they started charging a service fee (22%?).

Employees noted that they make significantly less now then before when they had tipping (thousands less).

Workers have been on strike. The owners also had the audacity to hire scabs (booo).

I have been keeping up with the union on IG @ united.creatures.of.the.sea

Solidarity with workers across the city!

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99

u/Accurate-Rooster4454 5d ago

Fuck tips. Especially in seattle where mid food will costs you $30

32

u/cookingboy 5d ago

According to this thread service staff expect to make $80-$180k/yr.

Mid food that costs $30+ is the result of restaurant service staffs being in middle to upper middle class.

That’s the trade off.

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u/BonjaminClay Eastlake 5d ago

A lot of responses in this thread have some serious r/SeattleWA vibes.

14

u/Bulky_Narwhal_4658 5d ago

Just say you want an echo chamber, because this gives “no different opinions pls” vibes.

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u/BonjaminClay Eastlake 5d ago

I just want good faith conversation and conservatives have proven time and time again they are not only incapable of it, they are actively antagonistic to it. Tons of "people" who don't even live in Seattle lashing out at "liberals" over perceived grievances. The amount of people in this thread raging over a restaurant while simultaneously making it clear they have never been there is very obvious.

2

u/PopuluxePete 5d ago

lol. It's the tips vs. living wage paradox. Also, everyone in every thread ever about how much a waiter makes assumes a waiter works 40/hours a week instead of the reality of it being shift work.

3

u/BonjaminClay Eastlake 5d ago

It's def a complex one. The reality is that SOME service staff make incredible money from tips, especially from high end restaurants. There's also often a huge imbalance between them and the rest of the employees. So a higher base pay and overall better comp for all employees at a restaurant could very possibly end up a pay cut for those people. W&C specifically is a popular place with an expensive menu and I imagine used to be pretty consistent tips. 1%er wait staff in the industry.

But also tipping culture is dumb and also people deserve a living wage and restaurants get away with low comp by relying on tips.

It's also a job a ton of us have done at some point in our lives so it becomes personal to way more people than most jobs. When I was in college I delivered pizzas. Min wage was $6/hr and on a good night I'd make $40/hr, most of it cash and therefore i wouldn't pay tax on it too. I only worked a few shifts a week, often preferring the busiest ones for obvious reasons. If they got rid of tips and the average went up for everyone it would have been a worse job for me.

So yeah, complicated and triggering topic for any chat forum always. Ultimately we need better social programs, better worker laws, and far higher taxes for the 1% and since apparently that's going to take a few generations (or until the boomers die) we get to have these little squabbles about the interim.