PRWA STATEMENT
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PRWA’s statement regarding the current restrictions on restaurants in Pennsylvania and the need for targeted government aid for workers and our industry.
On December 10, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced new restrictions on restaurants, including halting indoor dining for at least three weeks. Gov. Wolf stated that restaurant owners and workers cannot help that their businesses are a site of COVID-19 transmission, due to the risk incurred from gathering indoors. This is true, but it does not render government officials incapable of providing financial relief to compensate for necessary sacrifices.
Restaurants have suffered since the beginning of the pandemic, and many workers have been laid off, furloughed, or had their hours cut since shutdowns were first enacted. While many of us do not feel safe welcoming dine-in guests, we recognize the difficult bargain that is made between one’s health and safety and one’s ability to keep a roof over their head and food on the table.
This did not have to be our reality, but the lack of government assistance to our industry has made it so. We need targeted action that will directly affect our well-being as hospitality workers. Now is the time for our government to provide relief instead of deflecting responsibility with suggestions to order more takeout.
Grassroots and mutual aid efforts, such as PRWA, are functioning as a lifeline for service, hospitality, and nightlife workers. While we are proud of our community for stepping up to fill this great need, these responsibilities should not be ours to bear.
We have been asking for substantial immediate aid for months and, just yesterday, the relief we are being given is a stimulus check of $600 and extended unemployment benefits for 11 weeks. This is simply not enough, when many of us can barely afford food and are on the brink of losing our homes.
The hospitality industry needs immediate and targeted government aid. We needed our national government to pass a relief bill that included direct assistance to restaurants and bars, but the most recent stimulus left our industry out. Federal pandemic relief funds should be directed to our independent restaurants and unemployed workers, not reappropriated to fill state budget gaps.
Please contact your government representatives and urge them to support restaurant workers. We can’t survive this on our own. Don’t leave us out in the cold.
