Do you wonder how much the kitchen workers actually make at the restaurant across the street from where you cook?

Server positions are now advertised at “$18+/hr.” How much of that $18+/hr does the employer really pay?

Back in the summer of 2019, adjunct professors & museum workers began publicly sharing their wages & working conditions on Google Sheets. The process is simple – you fill out an online Google form and your information automatically appears in the publicly-viewable Google spreadsheet (editing is disabled). Since the initial project, transparency spreadsheets have popped up all over the country, highlighting wage disparities & working conditions in many different labor markets.

Inspired by these similar spreadsheets and the current low wages and lack of benefits in the service industry, Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid is introducing one of our own.

Wage transparency helps workers bargain for better workplace conditions by providing an understanding of industry specific labor in the region. Without this resource, workers cannot see the current rate of labor, recognize potential race and gender earning gaps, and/or examine potential benefits available in the restaurant industry.

As workers, we have a right to discuss wages. Sharing wage information is protected by labor law and any employer retaliation made against an employee is illegal. It is unlawful for private sector employers to prohibit employees from discussing wages and compensation, and it has been since the National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935.

Per the National Labor Relations Board, the agency that enforces the NLRA:

“Whether or not you are represented by a union, federal law gives you the right to join together with coworkers to improve your lives at work - including joining together in cyberspace, such as on Facebook.

Federal law protects your right to engage in not only union activity, but also "protected concerted" activity. You have the right to address work-related issues and share information about pay, benefits, and working conditions with co-workers and with a union. You have the right to take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with your employer or with a government agency, or seeking help to form a union. Using social media can be a form of protected concerted activity. You have the right to address work-related issues and share information about pay, benefits, and working conditions with coworkers on Facebook, YouTube, and other social media. But just individually griping about some aspect of work is not "concerted activity": what you say must have some relation to group action, or seek to initiate, induce, or prepare for group action, or bring a group complaint to the attention of management. Such activity is not protected if you say things about your employer that are egregiously offensive or knowingly and deliberately false, or if you publicly disparage your employer's products or services without relating your complaints to any labor controversy.”

Restaurant workers are now in higher demand than ever. Basic economic principles state that increased demand should result in higher wages. We want to provide our community a necessary bargaining tool to help workers increase their pay and benefits.

Please fill out the form to have your information added to the spreadsheet. Some questions are optional, but the more data you provide the better. We highly suggest that workers fill out and share this survey on personal time- not during work time. Workers should use their personal email/social media/cell phones/devices to fill out and share the survey. They should not use anything provided by the Company, including company email. ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE POSTED ANONYMOUSLY!

While workers are protected by the NLRA to speak about wages and working conditions (publicly, including social media), we do understand that may not prevent an employer from retaliating anyway.

• If any supervisors fill out this survey, they will not be protected under the NLRA. The NLRA protects "employees" who engage in protected, concerted activity, and the Act specifically excludes supervisors from the definition of "employee."

• The definition of "employee" does include undocumented immigrants. In other words, undocumented workers who engage in protected, concerted activity are protected under the NLRA.

This effort is about educating our industry about wages in different businesses across the Allegheny. We discourage workers from discussing the quality of the restaurant’s food, cleanliness of the kitchen, etc. publicly. Please refrain from using “offensive” language when filling out the form.

Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid reserves the right to redact any identifying information that is submitted via form.

If you have concerns, please reach out to us at tips@pghrwa.org.

We welcome employer participation ! We emphasize full transparency with this information collection project. If you believe an employee submitted incorrect information, submit information yourself. (It might also mean that it’s time to have a conversation regarding clarity about what your policies and pay are with your employees).