“The key consideration in the Governor’s plan is public health — not restaurant revenue or restaurant owners’ political power. That’s good news.
And we’re pleased to see that the new roadmap reflects the basic reality every restaurant worker knows: indoor dining is not an essential service, and it is simply not safe right now.
But much much much more must be done to provide workers relief, and we cannot afford to wait for federal action. Today, tens of thousands of restaurant workers don’t have any reliable source of income, and 2.2 million people in our state can’t afford groceries.We need to see the Governor and State Legislature act with urgency to make immediate fixes to an unemployment system where nearly 40,000 workers are currently waiting for ESD to resolve issues with their claims, and average delays are up to 10 weeks.
We need them to step up to provide relief to undocumented workers in the restaurant industry and other industries who are barred from accessing unemployment benefits and excluded from all federal support. And we need them put workers’ health where it belongs: at the center of the conversation about when and how to reopen safely.”