ShiftWork by RWCF Heritage Radio Network

On the season finale of ShiftWork, host Kiki Louya and her guests explore the future of the hospitality industry. From grassroots, community led support, to the ever-evolving shape restaurant leadership, we’re looking forward. Kiki is joined by Ben Hall, a true renaissance man. Born and raised in Detroit, he owned Russell Street Deli and has been a longtime advocate for worker rights, fair wages, and systems change. His work combines his passion for the industry with his love of music, community, and educating the next generation.

What will it take to pay restaurant workers a living wage? Tipping or no tipping?  Legislative or management changes? Questions abound about how to get the industry where it needs to go to ensure a sustainable career for hospitality workers. On this episode, Kiki speaks with Saru Jayaraman, one of the industry’s leading worker advocates as President of One Fair Wage and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. Saru takes listeners through the historic background and current battle for restaurant wages.

Parents, and mothers specifically, face a particularly steep set of challenges working in the hospitality industry. Long, irregular hours and lack of paid time off are only the start of what can make raising children while working in a restaurant untenable. This week on ShiftWork, host Kiki Louya explores resources for families in the industry in a conversation with Sheila Bennett, the Executive Director of CORE (Children of Restaurant Employees). CORE provides financial relief to restaurant workers with children when they experience crises like illness and injury. Kiki and Sheila discuss embracing opportunity in the industry while juggling family, childcare needs, and other obstacles.

Immigrants are an essential and valuable part of America’s hospitality industry. From rich international cuisines and diverse perspectives, it is undeniable that foreign-born talent makes the restaurant business, as we know it, possible. This episode celebrates and explores the experiences of immigrants working in food. Host Kiki Louya sits down with Leticia Landa, the Deputy Director of La Cocina, a nonprofit incubator that’s increasing inclusivity in the food industry and offering opportunities for living-wage work and asset generation. The conversation centers on the barriers faced by immigrant entrepreneurs and the resources available for empowering a new generation of business owners.

Racial inequity can be found across industries in America, but hospitality is a particular microcosm where power imbalances, lack of HR support, and attitudes towards service professionals can make for particularly challenging dynamics for BIPOC staff. In this episode, host Kiki Louya hears from Raeghn Draper, founder of the Chicago Hospitality Accountable Actions Database (CHAAD), about the chain of events set off by a racist diner. Mavis-Jay Sanders, Director of Culinary Development and Education at Drive Change weighs in on the intersecting challenges faced by Queer people of color; she also shares insights into how restaurants can create supportive and equitable working environments for all.

In an industry with a culture of hustling, difficult hours, low hourly pay, and little-to-no health coverage, mental health challenges run rampant. But there are a few committed individuals and organizations that offer support and models of change to the hospitality industry and its workers. They’re tackling addiction support and destigmatizing the need for mental health counseling. In this episode, host Kiki Louya hears from Chef Brother Luck who shares his own struggles with mental illness at a time when his career was at its peak. Kristina Magro, co-founder of Support Staff sits down for a conversation about the work that needs to be done to empower industry professionals, from back of house to management, to make necessary changes for workers mental health.