FAIR WAGES FOR WORKERS IN RESTAURANTS PAY OFF

There’s a case to be made for even higher salaries, says restaurateur Katy Ingraham.

One out of every three restaurants is in trouble.

That’s what Restaurants Canada warned last week in an ominous news release, picked up and echoed by Jason Kenney on the campaign trail.

As a restaurant owner, I understand the tale better than most. It is hard. Profit margins are extremely tight. The costs of goods and rent are high. Small businesses face disproportionate property taxes. And like most businesses, big and small, employing people is a significant expense.

If you take a look at the Restaurant Realities campaign put together by Restaurants Canada, it’s a message of fear and intimidation.

Nice neighbourhood restaurant you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it.

Maybe you should vote for someone — cough, cough, modest level of human capital — who will do something about that nasty minimum wage.

Restaurants Canada is a national organization that bought an expensive public relations campaign. They might position themselves as the voice of Alberta restaurants, but they certainly aren’t surveying businesses like ours.

As a community business owner and a proud Edmontonian, I’d have trouble putting my staff on the negative side of the ledger. They’re parents and community members. They bring smarts and skills to the job. They make my business better. Just like me, they’re trying to make ends meet.

The Edmonton Social Planning Council estimates that a living wage in Edmonton is $16.48 per hour. For a family of four in this city, that’s what it takes for two parents working full-time to stay afloat. Anyone who refuses to acknowledge the economic realities facing workers isn’t being honest. They’re expecting the rest of us to pick up the tab.

There’s actually a strong economic case for paying more. Better income is linked to a variety of benefits, including decreased employee turnover, fewer absences due to illness, and increased loyalty and productivity from employees. Paying a fair wage demonstrates that work and skill is valued. And workers with more money have more money to spend.

That’s not to downplay the fact that businesses have had to adapt.

Some have had a tougher time than others. Staff and holiday pay have gone up too.

But the historic context for those changes can’t be ignored either. Despite having the hottest economy in the country for years, Alberta also had Canada’s lowest wages.

For most businesses, minimum wage won’t make the difference between opening and closing. A lower wage for liquor servers won’t improve customer service. But it will make those workers more vulnerable to coercion and harassment.

Paying youth and people with disabilities less won’t suddenly create a ton of new jobs. But it will create an incentive to ditch an 18-year-old for a newer model.

The next time you’re out at a restaurant or club, look around. Chances are that most of the serving staff are female. Odds are that they are making minimum wage. Chances are that some of them are parents. Knowing that Alberta has one of Canada’s largest gender wage gaps, I believe that a living wage comes down to fairness.

Despite low oil prices these past five years, Alberta is inching closer to fairness. Our child poverty rate is decreasing. Despite Restaurants Canada and the menacing claims of certain politicians, I can’t help but feel that higher wages have had a positive impact.

The doomsayers claim that one in three restaurants is on the verge of closing. If it’s more than just partisan bluster, they’d have said so long before an election was underway.

I’d have trouble putting my staff on the negative side of the ledger.