“Behind the Kitchen Door”

On Monday, owner Andy Shallal made his way to NYC to sit on a panel discussion hosted by the Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC-United) at the Ford Foundation.  Along with food movement leaders, policy experts, journalists, artists, including actor Danny Glover, National Organization for Women (NOW) president Terry O’Neill, and ROC-United co-founder Saru Jayaraman, Andy spoke about the need for the restaurant industry to change the way it treats its workers. 

Busboys and Poets and Eatonville Restaurant are listed as one of ROC-United’s “High Road Restaurants.” Taking “the High Road to Profitability is an ethical, pragmatic, and profitable approach to doing business that benefits employers, employees, consumers and the community.” At Busboys and Poets and Eatonville, employees benefit from overtime pay, health insurance and paid sick leave, unlike the majority of the nation’s restaurants. Andy recommended to ROC-United, policy makers and consumers: “When I got to New York today, I noticed how restaurants post letter grades from the Health Department. What if they also had to post letter grades indicating the quality of the conditions for their workers?”

To learn more and get involved in consumer action and pressuring restaurants to pay sick leave to their employees click here.

Saru Jayaraman will be at Busboys and Poets on Feb. 13th to discuss her book, “Behind the Kitchen Door” at 6:30 PM in the Langston Room to bring attention to this human rights issue.

Busboys and Poets Books Interview: E. Ethelbert Miller

February saw the release of If God Invented Baseball, the latest collection of poetry from DC legend and literary activist E. Ethelbert Miller. A devoted fan of the Washington Nationals, Ethelbert celebrates in the book the magic of baseball and its lessons for life.  In advance of the poet’s upcoming event at Busboys and Poets … Continued

Engage in open talks about race with A.C.T.O.R.

As the upcoming presidential election nears, we are hearing the usual buzzwords: “economy,” “jobs,” “health care,” but now we are forced to deal with a matter that makes many Americans uncomfortable and fidgety.