A Fine Dining Frontrunner In The Fair Wage Fight with Adam Orman, Co-Founder of L’Oca d’Oro

It feels appropriate to post this on the day that Congress introduced the Raise the Wage Act 2019. It would eliminate the tipped minimum wage and slowly raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hr over the next five years. While I don’t think it will pass in that incarnation, we will be travelling to DC along with other restaurant owners and folks from ROC United to testify that our businesses are stronger paying our workers with a system that isn’t dependent on tips, or the whim of the customer.

A similar bill will be introduced in the TX Legislature this session and we will certainly be there to testify as well if the Speaker decides that it should go to the floor which is unlikely.

Over the next few months, we will be instituting all-in-one pricing where the gratuity, tax and food price are all rolled into one number. We will be able to provide more robust phsyical and mental health benefits for our employees & paid sick leave and give raises to the dishwashers and kitchen. In an industry where the “leaders”, meaning the highest grossing – the national chains – continue to be amongst the lowest paying employers in the country, it is gratifying to have podcasts like this focus on other folks who are trying to find more sustainable ways to succeed.

And we are not alone. Check out www.goodworkaustin.org, a community of socially conscious Austin businesses, as it evolves this year to stand against the lobbyists who claim to speak for business.

Oh, and listen to me on this podcast. Thank you.