{"id":10648,"date":"2021-01-09T06:01:50","date_gmt":"2021-01-09T06:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lavozlit.com\/?p=10648"},"modified":"2021-01-09T06:01:50","modified_gmt":"2021-01-09T06:01:50","slug":"interview-food-on-the-frontline-of-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/2021\/01\/09\/interview-food-on-the-frontline-of-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Food on the Front Line of COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

The devastating impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis have revealed the incapacity of capitalist governments around the world to protect the health and safety of working class and oppressed people. This is seen most clearly in the US which continues to record the highest deaths and infections from this pandemic. As we have noted in previous articles and statements, poor and working class people have been hit the hardest, especially black and brown communities which have been disproportionately impacted by the virus. Here in New Orleans, African Americans have died at a rate of 70% even though they represent only 32% of the population. In order to learn more about how this pandemic has impacted working people, Workers\u2019 Voice interviewed Dylan Lopez, a New Orleans restaurant worker, in December 2020.<\/em>
\nWV: Could you introduce yourself?\u00a0 Where are you from, and how did you get into the restaurant industry?<\/strong>
\nDL: My name is Dylan Lopez.\u00a0 I\u2019m a 27 year old chef in New Orleans.\u00a0 I\u2019m from LaPlace originally \u2013 it\u2019s a little town in the New Orleans metro area about 20 minutes away.\u00a0 I got into cooking through my first job in New Orleans which was at this dine-in movie theater that\u2019s no longer there.\u00a0 I just worked my way up, became a chef over there, ran the kitchen, moved on, and ran a few more kitchens in New Orleans like Z\u00f3calo and Otra Vez.\u00a0 I\u2019m currently working at a popular restaurant uptown on Freret Street.
\nWV: Can you talk about how the COVID crisis has impacted you as a restaurant worker here in New Orleans?<\/strong>
\nDL: Yeah, it\u2019s a direct impact.\u00a0 It was like a meteor struck the industry.\u00a0 The hospitality industry has been on the frontlines of the pandemic faced with touch decisions to make, like whether to stay open and risk the health of your staff, or to close and then risk shutting down.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen co-workers getting sick, not having sick pay available to them, or having to take time off.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen people in this industry die of COVID-19 and we\u2019ve seen historic restaurants and bars shut forever \u2013 not coming back.\u00a0 So we are in the frontlines every day.<\/p>\n

We are providing a life-giving service – feeding people and keeping society going.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With no relief from the government a lot of restaurants are kind of stuck out.\u00a0 We are providing a life-giving service – feeding people and keeping society going.\u00a0 We\u2019re serving people and helping them feel \u201cnormal again\u201d and creating this experience and in return our waitresses and waiters are getting less tips, less hours, and there is no type of relief from the government to help alleviate the stress.
\nWV: Can you talk about what has been done locally by the city government to address COVID-19 especially as it relates to hospitality workers?<\/strong>
\nDL: So that\u2019s a tricky one, because on one hand, early on when the pandemic first started Mayor LaToya Cantrell shut the city down, as she should have, and gave restaurants the option whether to stay open – you could, but it had to be to-go only.\u00a0 But with no real financial relief.\u00a0 So it\u2019s kind of like an empty policy.\u00a0 Where it\u2019s like, ok, you can close down but also, do so at your own risk because I\u2019m not bailing you out.\u00a0 And that\u2019s particularly interesting when you consider the hospitality and restaurant workers of this city brought in a revenue of $9 billion in 2019 alone and we didn\u2019t see any of that money returned to us.\u00a0 Nothing was provided in relief.\u00a0 Now, the State did offer extra unemployment for a short amount of time, but again, we had issues with infrastructure and the lack thereof where websites were failing, people couldn\u2019t get their unemployment checks, or their stimulus checks.\u00a0 I know people who still haven\u2019t gotten their stimulus check.
\nI\u2019ve been working for the latter half of the pandemic this year and it has gotten increasingly worse in the city.\u00a0 It\u2019s because we were going through these phases that didn\u2019t really mean anything and that were very vague and there were no real guidelines or rules to follow.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve seen things like gigantic outdoor gatherings in courtyards of certain restaurants in the [French] Quarter where you\u2019d have a live band playing and you\u2019d have masses of people gathering around the band.\u00a0 We had bars that were not supposed to be open but were secretly opening letting people in and keeping the door shut, but you could hear music coming from the inside.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re seeing crowds of tourists already in town \u2013 people who you know aren\u2019t locals and they\u2019re not wearing masks and they are coming here continuing the spread.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 
\nAnd then we had this massive gathering at the peak of one of the worst spikes in COVID where we had close to 300 people gather in Jackson Square for a Christian concert and that got real murky because apparently they had permits to perform from the city of New Orleans and then Mayor Cantrell has been denying that.\u00a0 What ended up happening from that was we had a gigantic spike in cases in New Orleans. And that\u2019s interesting to think about because even though we had that event happen and we\u2019ve seen cases skyrocket in the city to the point where we are at 0.3% away from a 5% positivity rate after Thanksgiving, the city is still going on with Dick Clark\u2019s Rockin\u2019 New Years\u2019 Eve event and they\u2019re setting\u00a0 up big stages to accommodate this that is going to 100% guarantee to draw in a crowd.
\nAs we\u2019re sitting in this alleyway behind the French Market, we\u2019re seeing crowds of tourists already in town \u2013 people who you know aren\u2019t locals and they\u2019re not wearing masks and they are coming here continuing the spread.\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s just a blatant indifference to public safety and disregard for the people in this city in favor of the dollar that the tourists are going to bring in and the amount of money that you\u2019re raking in throwing this event.\u00a0 So it definitely shows you that this was all about money.\u00a0 Business as usual.
\nWV: Can you talk now about the federal response to the COVID-19 crisis and the most recent Coronavirus bill and stimulus?<\/strong>
\nDL:\u00a0 So first off, that stimulus bill is not a stimulus bill.\u00a0 That\u2019s a big budget spending bill and they decided to throw us a little $600 from whatever change was left over.\u00a0 Our tax money is being used to fund war and to fund big budget Pentagon and military projects.\u00a0 There\u2019s no relief for the working class. $600 pays nobody\u2019s rent in this nation at all.\u00a0 $600 barely covers some people\u2019s bills.
\nThere\u2019s a big issue with how this pandemic was handled by the federal government and the fact that we didn\u2019t make a federal mandate where all states had to adhere to one central guideline, subjecting all of the \u2018progressive states\u2019 to the chaos when other states that weren\u2019t enforcing any COVID restrictions were bringing the virus to other states.\u00a0 It\u2019s like we need one rule across the nation during the pandemic.\u00a0 You don\u2019t leave it up to the states during a global pandemic.\u00a0 You don\u2019t leave it up to bipartisan bullshit.\u00a0 You come together as one and you say we\u2019re going to lock this down, we\u2019re going to make sure everyone\u2019s got their money, we\u2019re going to make sure that people can stay indoors and stay safe and then we\u2019ll get through this.\u00a0 We only needed one year of this shit, but look now, we did all this bipartisan nonsense that didn\u2019t really benefit anyone.
\nThroughout this entire pandemic, this bipartisan effort ultimately left working-class people to die.\u00a0 The ignorance and incompetence from the oligarchy should show the American people that this two-party system does not work.\u00a0 It\u2019s two wings of the same bird.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had over 300,000 people dead, most of whom are working class people.\u00a0 The disinformation that was spread rampantly from the White House throughout the crisis made it even worse.\u00a0 And the response from the government echoes that of Marie Antoinette when the French Revolution was just starting to happen.\u00a0 And I\u2019m honestly surprised that this country isn\u2019t on fire right now because the federal government left us to die.\u00a0 They only bailed out the economy which benefits them which is Wall Street.\u00a0 The rich got incredibly wealthy over this pandemic and the poor were pushed into poverty even further.\u00a0 And I think as the working class we need to separate from this two-party system and stop participating in it completely and we just function among ourselves.\u00a0 Because all we really have, and all we\u2019ve seen in this pandemic was that we had each other.
\nMy neighborhood was able to build a really good community amongst the neighbors \u2013 we came together and took care of each other through this pandemic.\u00a0 We fed each other, we drank with each other, we did more for each other than the federal government did and I\u2019m sure that was the case for others as well.
\nWV: Could you talk about how the federal bill played out locally, especially regarding the PPP (paycheck protection program1<\/sup>)?<\/strong>
\nDL:\u00a0 So I want to ask the question does anyone know what that is?\u00a0 Even business owners still don\u2019t know how to navigate the PPP loan.\u00a0 From my understanding, small and local businesses, depending on need, were awarded a given sum that was already calculated and predetermined based on your needs in order to\u00a0 provide relief for workers of these businesses without having to lay them off.\u00a0 What ended up happening was that you had people like Morris Bart, who is a multi-millionaire and a very famous lawyer in this city, get $4 million in PPP loans for his law firm, but the restaurant that I work at that has a staff of 20 people only got $300,000.\u00a0 So as you can see, it wasn\u2019t really based on need, but on wealth and notoriety in the city.\u00a0 Why was Morris Bart, a wealthy lawyer, able to secure $4 million?\u00a0 Whereas the guy who owns my restaurant only secured this much, given the fact that he had a larger staff, and he probably has more bills to pay.\u00a0 So, ultimately, the response again was just pure ignorance and incompetence and a complete disregard for the workers.\u00a0 And we also have businesses who are holding out on their PPP – they haven\u2019t even used it yet.\u00a0 So in turn, you have staff who are suffering.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m honestly surprised that this country isn\u2019t on fire right now because the federal government left us to die.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some restaurants are getting on board and are being really progressive and using that PPP to level everybody out with chefs and general managers taking pay cuts so that everybody makes a living wage at the end of the week.\u00a0 Unfortunately, that\u2019s not the case for every restaurant in this city.\u00a0 We have a lot that just chose to stay closed and displaced a lot of workers.\u00a0 We have a lot of restaurants that are gaining new staff because they have nowhere else to go.\u00a0 I really think that this PPP lesson and the pandemic should have taught the restaurant industry as a whole that we need to change the way we do everything.\u00a0 If we\u2019re all working towards one common goal there\u2019s no reason why we shouldn\u2019t be able to make a decent living wage.\u00a0 If we\u2019re building wealth for these owners and we\u2019re making sure that their businesses stay afloat, we should be able to make a living wage.
\nWV: What are hospitality workers facing right now in New Orleans and what support do they need?<\/strong>
\nDL:\u00a0 We have to have more equity among hospitality workers – meaning owners, chefs, and general managers need to step up.\u00a0 There\u2019s no reason why a chef should make $83,000 a year and his line cook that does the majority of the work makes ten bucks an hour.\u00a0 We need to revolutionize the way that we work.\u00a0 And part of that is, we need to charge people more money to want to eat.\u00a0 Because at this point we are providing people a life-giving service.\u00a0 We learned in this pandemic that a lot of people don\u2019t know how to cook and there\u2019s a\u00a0 demand for restaurants to stay open.\u00a0 This was a source of food for so many people.
\nWorking in a restaurant is a blue collar job and is a respectable trade.\u00a0 We have people working sixty hours a week sometimes.\u00a0 This crisis shined a light on how much more we need PTO2<\/sup>, a living wage, vacation time, and all the benefits.\u00a0 We need a union which can guarantee that the workers get paid a living wage.\u00a0 And we need to force these bosses and these owners to up the money.\u00a0 Because there\u2019s no reason why a restaurant owner, who is living in a really nice house, while the workers, the ones who build all the wealth for him, can\u2019t even pay their rent.\u00a0 It comes from the top down.\u00a0 Everybody who\u2019s making more money need to wise up because we could really just strike one day and we could cripple every restaurant in this industry if we all got together and decided we\u2019re not showing up to work today, we\u2019re standing in solidarity until we all get a living wage.\u00a0 And it\u2019s going to force them to open up their pockets.\u00a0 There\u2019s no reason why we shouldn\u2019t be making more money.\u00a0 Every line cook in this city should be paid at least $15 an hour minimum starting wage.
\nWV: What do you think we can expect from the Biden administration relating to the coronavirus?<\/strong>
\nDL:\u00a0 The only thing we\u2019re going to see from the Biden administration these four years is just a bunch of virtue signaling.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to see a bunch of empty policies.\u00a0 We\u2019ve already seen the Democratic Party get embarrassed completely during this second round of stimulus relief conversations where McConnel played Pelosi into a corner.\u00a0 And then McConnell turned his back on Trump by refusing to go along with the $2,000 stimulus.\u00a0 It\u2019s a mess.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want people to have selective amnesia though and remember that Trump denied the money to us in the first place back in May.\u00a0 I think credit should go to Rashida Talib who was the first to propose this $2,000 a month stimulus.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t just some arbitrary number they pulled out of nowhere.\u00a0 This was already a policy that was shot down.\u00a0 I think Pelosi\u2019s getting what she deserves because she ignored the progressive caucus within her party.\u00a0 And you reap what you sow.\u00a0 Because you played both sides of the fence and she and Biden both swore to not embarrass their Republican counterparts and not fight for the working class.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t think anybody in owes their loyalty to either party at this point because both of them left us to die.\u00a0 The Republicans were just more overt about it.
\nWV: Could you explain how COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color in the hospitality industry?<\/strong>
\nDL: When you look at the statistics of COVID-19, you\u2019ll see how black and brown folks are disproportionately affected and that\u2019s because they are still working.\u00a0 In a lot of these kitchen jobs and restaurants, the black and brown workers are the backbone of those restaurants and they carry the brunt of weight that makes the restaurant run.\u00a0 The way that COVID-19 is affecting these communities and the obvious indifference from not only local governments, but patrons themselves, shows you that they don\u2019t really value the worth of black and brown people and don\u2019t see them as human beings but rather as sentient servants and I think that\u2019s wrong.\u00a0 If anyone deserves a paid vacation to really enjoy themselves and relax, it\u2019s the black and brown workers who continue to carry this industry.\u00a0 And to see the COVID-19 numbers affect these communities also reflects the lack of access in healthcare and resources that these communities don\u2019t have that privileged white communities do have.\u00a0 And the for-profit healthcare industry has ultimately failed the working class people of this country and I think that\u2019s why we\u2019re seeing these numbers.
\nWV: What can we learn from the George Floyd uprisings that took place over the summer and what is needed now?<\/strong>
\nDL: What we can learn from the uprisings in the summer is that power is definitely in numbers and the more that we organize and stand in solidarity in every industry, continue to carry out this work off of the internet and into the streets and workplaces, I think the more we\u2019ll see get done.\u00a0 We had more change this summer because of direct action than we ever saw with voting.\u00a0 If the truckers strike, then that means shit\u2019s not getting delivered, if the farmers strike, that means no produce is coming, and if the restaurants strike, we can guarantee that the elites aren\u2019t eating, if the cashiers strike, nobody\u2019s buying.\u00a0 If we all come together, industry to industry and stand together, we can really make a big change in this nation.\u00a0 We can put the power back to the people.\u00a0 And I try to always have good faith in any type of revolutionary thought and process and I think any revolution needs hope more than anything.\u00a0 Yet we need the power and the will to keep going no matter how hard it is.\u00a0 I think this uprising taught us that the people on the ground level deserve better, and it begins with the main focus of the summer uprisings: justice and reparations for Black people.\u00a0 We must continue to fight.<\/p>\n

Notes<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. \u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Paycheck Protection Program\u00a0(PPP) is a $669-billion business loan program established by the 2020\u00a0US Federal government\u00a0Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act\u00a0(CARES Act) to help certain businesses, self-employed workers, sole proprietors, certain nonprofit organizations, and tribal businesses continue paying their workers.\u201d https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paycheck_Protection_Program<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Paid time off<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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