Waffle House strike highlights the harms of the Southern economic development model

[Passages]

Posted May 7, 2024 at 2:34 pm by Chandra Childers

In March, workers at the Waffle House in Conyers, Georgia, went on strike. It’s not difficult to see why: They are paid wages as low as $2.90 per hour before tips, with a $3.00 per shift “meal credit” taken from their already meager wages regardless of whether they have eaten a meal at the restaurant.

But that is not all—worker safety is also at issue. Waffle House workers report working in dangerous environments and point to the constant threat of violence and the lack of trained security in the restaurants. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for customers to start fights with or to attack workers. Waffle House staff is expected to deescalate these fights and call police rather than the store ensuring their safety and the safety of other customers. There are also robberies—one Waffle House worker was shot and killed during an armed robbery in Tifton, Georgia.

Finally, there is the practice of Waffle House restaurants being kept open during hurricanes and other disasters which endanger workers who are still expected to report for their shifts. One worker reported being asked to go to the store to purchase paper towels during a hurricane.

The conditions faced by staff at Waffle House restaurants exemplify the harmful philosophy of the Southern economic development model: that workers are just another commodity that can be replaced and a cost to be minimized. While financials are not public, Forbes estimates the owner of Waffle House has a net worth of $1.7 billion. Yet, 66% of Waffle House workers are paid less than $15 an hour and 24% are paid less than $10, according to our Company Wage Tracker. Thousands of Waffle House workers are paid poverty-level wages, with a portion of those wages being taken back as a “meal credit.” The meal credit that is automatically deducted from workers’ pay could add up to almost $30 million annually for Waffle House, according to reported estimates.
https://www.epi.org/blog/waffle-house-strike-highlights-the-harms-of-the-southern-economic-development-model/

[EYESORE 9001]

1. I hope the workers get back every penny they're owed

I know lots of people here sing their praises, but this is one thing among many that keeps me out of most franchise/chain restaurants. I’m sure these things can happen with a privately-owned restaurant, but the Awful House has made it systemic and spread throughout the chain.

[Passages]

3. Yes. The greed and manipulation is awful.

[yagotme]

2. Nothing good ever happens after 10:00 PM.

Especially at a Waffle House.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. When visiting friends in Georgia recently...

I saw many Waffle House locations.

Nor do my friends eat at one for many of the reasons listed in the main post.

I recall one near the Kansas City Renaissance Festival in 2019. The floor was filthy, food scraps on the floor, dirty tables. I had to ask for a wash cloth to wipe the table I was at. I have not been in one since then.

[misanthrope]

5. Better served by reading the full report

which is here:
https://www.epi.org/publication/rooted-racism-part1/

A couple of things unmentioned in the report are how the system of the Southern economic development model remains dominant despite the cited influx of transplants, and the effects of climate change on population migration.

In the case of the first item, Wilbur Zelinsky's Theory of First Effective Settlement explains the perseverance of a system derived from the values of West Indian slavers and plantation owners. As long as culture remains homo sapiens' chief tool of adaptation, it will be nearly impossible to get around it. The greatest chance the U.S. had to rid itself of this system that is philosophically opposed to formally enshrined American ideals would have been to shatter it after the Civil War. The measures required for such would have been abhorrent as they would have entailed forced relocation on a large scale.

The second undiscussed matter, the effects of climate change on increased population inflow to the South, will be just as much a horror story. The author specifically mentioned that one of the prime facilitators of the trend was the advent of air conditioning to battle the South's brutal weather.

The widespread use of air conditioning during the 1960s and 1970s further contributed to population growth across the region. The oppressive heat during summer months along with high humidity left many Southerners in misery. This has been fundamentally changed, however, by air conditioning in cars, homes, and businesses (Arsenault 1984). As Figure C shows, before 1980 the share of the population living in the South fluctuated around 30–31%. From 1980 onward, it has continued to increase in each subsequent decade.

Climate change will stress infrastructure, especially electrical grids. Temperatures will climb and wet bulb temperatures will prey on the impoverished and frail. That includes all those older Americans ostensibly relocating southward to take advantage of lower taxes and cost of living. More heat in the atmosphere means more energy in the atmosphere, heightening the calamities in a region already wracked by disastrous weather events -- drought, tornadoes, hurricanes -- as is. In short, the South will make a quick regression into pre-20th century existence.

[Passages]

6. Does anyone realistically believe that without a super majority

of Democrats for at least a decade we will not be able to accomplish what we need to, considering the obstacles of climate change.

Once we can pass legislation, we face GOP-type judges, state, and federal who will attempt to gut/ undermine those regulatory laws. The obstacles are many but we must persist regardless.