Flying chairs and customer fights may be commonplace for Waffle House employees, but meal breaks apparently aren’t.
Workers at Southern dining chains see a large chunk of change taken out of their pay each week for food they eat — even if they don’t eat it, The Messenger reported.
Atlanta-based chef Gerald Green, who claims he rarely eats at home, told the outlet that the restaurant had paid him $39 for untouched food in the past three weeks — and there was “no way to opt out.”
Now, “fed up” workers are gathering in the picket lines, and 13,000 signed petitions to refuse Waffle House withholding charges.
They are also seeking other guarantees of higher wages and better safety protocols in the middle of a violent customer fight in eateries that have been widely reported in recent years.
Many Waffle House employees don’t eat their meal charges, employees say. Southern Service Employees Union
“Waffle House workers from across the South are fed up,” read a petition from the Southern Service Employees Union.
“We are sick and tired of making poverty wages, the constant threat of violence in shops, and mandatory food cuts – whether we eat or not while on shift.”
A South Carolina waitress found the dining policy unfair because she barely had time to enjoy their menu items.
“I’m usually the only server working the second shift, so I’m running around and don’t have time to eat,” said employee Summer Schoolmeester-Cochran.
“But Waffle House still makes me pay for it.”
He’s not alone, said Georgia-based worker Cindy Smith.
“Eighty-five to 95 percent of us don’t eat Waffle House food,” he told Today.com. “We still have to pay for it.”
Mandatory charges have also increased of late and workers were not informed, Smith claimed.
Today @WaffleHouse workers sent THIRTEEN THOUSAND petitions to corporate headquarters in Atlanta. Our demands are clear:
✅ Minimum wage $25/hour for ALL employees
? 24/7 security at all restaurants❌ Mandatory meal deduction ends 1/3 pic.twitter.com/G6ZJhPi49x
— Service Employees Union of the South (@RaiseUptheSouth) November 8, 2023
“Meal allowance is always issued, but it’s only, like, $1.50 per shift. Then they decided to start it. Every day you work now, $3.75 comes out of your check. That’s more than I make in an hour.”
The Post reached out to Waffle House for comment.
Smith also said the charges make it harder for him to buy the food he actually eats and that, coupled with the lack of security, makes him angry.
“At one point, probably in 2011, I was robbed at gunpoint,” he said. “Waffle House didn’t call me and I had to work my entire shift.”
Waffle House workers are protesting meal deduction policies and safety issues at the chain. Southern Service Employees Union
When Smith joined a recent rally outside Waffle House’s Atlanta-area headquarters, he said bosses dismissed their concerns.
“We’re all standing out there. We are very quiet. We are not rude. We’re not being disrespectful,” he told “Today.”
“We just sent three people to deliver 13,000 signed petitions so they told us if we didn’t get off the property they were going to call the police, and they threw all 13,000 petitions in the trash.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
