The Working Lunch

This week, the former and possibly future President of the United States, Donald Trump, suggested that if elected, he would eliminate taxes on tipped income. Two questions. Doesn’t he need a willing Congress to do that and secondly, how did tips find their way into being a presidential campaign issue? We’ll discuss.

And it was an important week on the minimum wage ballot front with big news out of both Arizona and Massachusetts. The landscape for the November ballot got a lot more clarity this week and we’ll dive into it.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We’re joined by Justin Winslow, the President & CEO of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association, who will discuss his organization’s successful legal battle before the state supreme court to remove a pending ballot measure to increase the minimum wage and eliminate the tip credit. But the issue is far from over and we talk about what’s coming next.

And California is at it again - this time creating a Fast Act for Janitorial Workers. We’ll talk about the SEIU’s continued focus on sectoral bargaining and what that could mean down the road for other industry players.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

A unionization effort at a high-profile restaurant in Minneapolis could be the equivalent of the early efforts in the coffee sector in both Boston and Buffalo that led directly to Starbucks. Operators large and small in Minneapolis better buckle up and operators everywhere should be paying close attention. We’ll explain why.

And we are joined by Mike Whatley, Vice-President of State Affairs & Grassroots Advocacy at the National Restaurant Association to talk about the state of play of the minimum wage ballot initiatives in Arizona, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri. We’ll also talk about junk fees and outline the industry priorities on the ground this summer.

We’ll talk about that important development and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We are joined by Phil Wilson, President & General Counsel of the Labor Relations Institute to talk about the recent application of the Cemex decision in a restaurant organizing effort and forcing the operators to bargain. Is this a one-off or just the beginning as the labor community continues to focus on the industry.

We’ll talk about that important development and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

With a new union focused on organizing QSR’s in the South, and pro-union think tanks disparaging the “Southern Economic Model”, the escalation of the southern prison labor issue is not happening in a vacuum. How should the industry view what is happening down South and more importantly, how to prepare for it.

And the landmark Cemex decision has barreled headfirst into the restaurant industry with a New York landmark restaurant facing the possibility of being the first in the industry ordered to recognize a union without an election. We will dive into that.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Minneapolis has successfully engineered a labor standards board for nursing home workers that will set benefit and wage levels for that sector. So far advocates have considered it a big success building momentum for the concept. Any guesses as to which industry is next on their agenda? You guessed it. We’ll discuss what’s coming down the pike for the restaurant industry.

And under the guise of “we missed the memo”, how, when and why did the restaurant industry and its supply chain partners end up in the middle of most of the biggest political and policy issues of our day? We’ll try to figure that out.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We are joined by Sean Kennedy, the EVP of Public Affairs for the National Restaurant Association to reflect on last week’s summiting of Capitol Hill by hundreds of restauant operators during the Assocation’s annual Public Affairs Conference. What did Members of Congress learn from us and what did we learn from them? We’ll discuss.

And in the wake of political blowback, are leading companies shying away from their corporate diversity and inclusion goals or are they merely just talking about them less. We’ll take a look at that.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

There are some important restaurant states this year with minimum wage and tip credit elimination measures on the November ballot. Ohio is at the top of that list. We are joined by John Barker, CEO of the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance as well as Tod Bowen, their head of External Affiars & Government Relations, to level set on their pending measure to both incease the minimum wage to $15/hr and eventually eliminate the tip credit.

We will also review the general state of play of those wage issues across the country as many legislative sessions are close to wrapping up.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

DoorDash is working with the state of Pennsylvania on a portable benefits pilot program that, if successful, could completely alter the dynamics of the national paid leave and benefits conversation. Is there a way for the industry to seize this opportunity and extricate itself from these reputationally-draining issues? We’ll discuss.

And the media is having a field day in California documenting the peridicted and also unforeseen negative ramifications of the new $20/hr minimum wage for QSR workers. How can the industry best capture this energy and leverage it in similar legislative battles across the country? We’ll take a look.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We sit down with Doug Kantor, the general counsel of the National Association of Convenience Stores, to discuss the biggest story this week - the preliminary settlement of the class action lawsuit brought by a group of retailers almost 20 years ago accusing the credit card companies and their electronic payments systems of being an anti-competitive monopoly. We’ll discuss the merits of the settlement, whether it will be approved by the courts, and what it means for pending legislation in Congres to reign in out-of-control interchange fees.

And California’s minimum wage for fast-food workers is rising to $20/hr next week, the highest statewide wage in the country. But the media coverage this week, somewhat unexpectedly, has been highlighting the impact to operators and the industry and reporting on closures, job losses and other negative ramifications. It’s not been quite the media week the SEIU was hoping for. We’ll dive into that.

We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.