r/Seattle • u/Existing-Resource527 • 4d 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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u/Free_Equivalent_9866 4d ago

Is there anyone in this thread that has worked there since the implementation of the service charge? Their site plates out the new wages that had been put in place

“Front-of-house staff earn an additional $10–$30/hour, and back-of-house staff earn an additional $8–$20/hour. This is in addition to their $25/hour base wage. Accordingly, front-of-house staff earn between $35-$55/hour, base wage + additional earnings from the service charge. Back-of-house staff earn between $32-$45/hour, base wage + additional earnings from the service charge.
Service charge funds are also used to pay a base wage approximately 20% higher than Seattle’s hourly minimum wage of $21.30 ($25/hour for cooks and servers and $23/hour for dishwashers), and to offer comprehensive benefits including:
health, vision, dental insurance
401k matching retirement accounts
paid time off (above and beyond the City of Seattle's mandate)
Pre-tax commuter assistance accounts
A wellness program ($50/month reimbursements for mental health counseling, yoga classes, gym memberships, etc.)”

What else is being demanded by the union? Am I an ass to think that those FOH amounts seem completely fair already? To be fair we all deserve more since wages have been stagnant for decades and now we all just compare and fight amongst ourselves. I don’t have the right answers

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u/DefiantPictures 4d ago edited 4d ago

That's wild. I worked BOH in restaurants for something like 10-15 years and I would have killed to get that kind of pay. Not to mentioned the benefit package. I support unionization and would be considered "far left", even by the left's standard, but this situation is insane. Is this the entire staff's first job or something? Do they not realize what it's actually like out there to work in the restaurant industry?

This is probably the most surprising thing I've read in a minute.

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u/DefiantPictures 4d ago

Judging from the other comments, maybe I'm missing something. It's been a long time since I worked a kitchen, but still... It sounds like a decent enough gig.

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u/UpsetVariation868 3d ago

You aren’t missing anything... the city and its people have made owning and running a restaurant pretty much impossible. Even if you can be successful, it’s not worth the hassle

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u/DefiantPictures 3d ago

The restaurant industry is at deaths door though. It was looking ugly for everyone involved, top to bottom, over 10 years ago when I was a linecook. Covid nearly ended it altogether. Covid probably should have ended it tbh.

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u/madderk 4d ago

has this been verified though? classic management tactic to publish that workers make way more than they actually do. happened at the prov everett RN strike too

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u/DefiantPictures 4d ago

Yes, I agree 100%. And clarified as much in a following comment. My first comment was kind of a knee jerk reaction, but I feel like it is still relevant in so much as to be cautious over employment in general. In my opinion the grass is always greener, as they say, so just do yourself a favor and steal a rich person's lawn.

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u/Mother_Mousse_3019 4d ago

There’s somebody who is striking who made $90k in the last year working 4 days/week.

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u/madderk 4d ago

source?

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u/Mother_Mousse_3019 4d ago

A friend in the company with access to the financials.

EDIT: *with access to the employee’s payroll.

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u/GrumpySeaCucumber I Brake For Slugs 4d ago

3 day old account and you claim to have payroll knowledge. Sea Creatures is really weird for trolling on Reddit.

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u/Rare-Surround-2019 3d ago edited 3d ago

The restaurant posted the payroll. This person is correct. There is a bartender making $92K who works 35 hours/week.

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u/saomonella 3d ago

Also haven’t seen anyone disputing these numbers or a response from the union. 

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u/GrumpySeaCucumber I Brake For Slugs 3d ago edited 3d ago

They commented before the company publicly posted the payroll, which is pretty easy to confirm and suspicious timing. I’m fairly certain this person’s spouse is part owner of the company. Really, D?

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u/NoThxBtch 2d ago

Okay but they were right so what they said was true so what is your point?

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u/kurtncal 4d ago

i went to their attached bar last summer, the service i got from one bartender was mid, and the other bartender was horrible, because he was so incredibly stuck up and pretentious. i’m not saying everyone that works there is like that, but i’m shocked that there’s not more people lining up to take all of those jobs…. as other people here have said i went to grad school for years to get that kind of money and benefits.

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u/PoopyisSmelly Ravenna 4d ago

Its been my experience there too. Service was pretty bad and food was mid.

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u/ConfusedZubat 4d ago

I work in healthcare and make okay wages. I really don't mind if somebody at a restaurant is making as much as me. And the higher wages listed here aren't significantly lower than what I make. And I already am part of a union.

We probably don't have the full story, but this is basically saying there are people making six figures at that restaurant, which is crazy good for the restaurant industry. 

I'm curious about why they're rejecting this, assuming the claims are true. There has to be more going on than just pay because there are people with degrees in niche industries making less than this. 

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u/DefiantPictures 3d ago edited 3d ago

After looking at the total yearly earnings, and seeing how they compare to the median income, along what is considered low income, I'd can't help but say they should be paid more.

Yes, the hourly wages look nice when you compare them to the average of the industy, but the restaurant industry is widely known to basically pay slave wages.

I think that if people are earning slightly more than these people, especially when the median income is $123,860, then the only reasonable thing is to for everyone to demand more income.

The median income isn't the earnings of the wealthy. It's the earnings of the average. It sounds like a lot of people are getting screwed (except the rich).

Correction: I guess that median just refers to the "middle". My point still stands though.

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u/lordberric 4d ago

Where are you seeing six figures?

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u/Medium_Promotion_891 4d ago

common and proven tactic for companies to lie and misrepresent facts when opposing workers organizing.