Pandemic fuels sexual harassment against women in food service, report finds
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Food service workers have remained on the frontlines of the pandemic despite the risk of illness and harassment, a new study finds. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
By Rachel Vick
Workers feeding their neighbors throughout the coronavirus pandemic are not only at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, they are also exposed to sexual harassment at an alarming rate, according to a new report published Tuesday.
Nearly 80 percent of New York food service workers surveyed said customers have become more hostile since the pandemic began in March, and 65 percent of women workers said they had been targeted by unwanted sexual comments, according to the study, conducted by Queens College and the organization One Fair Wage.
Meanwhile, the same workers are at particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
Two-thirds of food service workers surveyed in New York reported that their employers are not consistently following COVID-19 safety protocols.
Overall, the report authors surveyed 1,675 food service workers across New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC. New Yorkers were more likely to contract COVID-19 and more likely to know someone who died from the virus than their counterparts in the other states, the report found.
“Service workers are facing a clear crisis, unable to protect themselves or enforce the safety protocols needed to protect the public,” said One Fair Wage Executive Director Saru Jayraman. “Women are literally being asked to expose themselves to illness and death for the pleasure of male customers — and all for a subminimum wage.”
The report chronicles more than 250 comments directed at women working in food service.
Pandemic-themed harassment included comments like “Pull that mask down so I can see if I want to take you home later” and “I wouldn't be able to stay six feet from you.”
The harassment against the low-wage workers comes while restaurant workers already face a high risk of COVID-19 exposure while their unmasked patrons order food, chat with their dining partners or chomp down on their food. Adults are twice as likely to contract the virus after eating in a restaurant, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported in September.
“Working in an enclosed space with no proper ventilation and serious lack of airflow is one of the highest risk settings to be in and I’m not sure many customers understand that,” Queens resident and server Valeska Kosse told the Eagle.
Some customers have tipped more than usual because they understand the dangers that the workers face, she said. Most have not.
“The majority of customers actually tipped less than during normal times,” she said.
Some restaurant workers said they felt they had to shrug off the harassment because they need the tips and confronting the harasser likely means losing out on the extra cash, according to the report.
Councilmember Antonio Reynoso introduced a bill that would permanently allow New York City restaurants to add a 15 percent surcharge to the final tab without taking away from workers’ hourly wages.
Reynoso’s bill is an extension of a temporary measure enacted in September that would allow restaurants to add a 10 percent charge to give the industry a boost.
“We must support the restaurant industry AND its workers,” Reynoso tweeted. ”My bill will allow restaurants to impose a 15% surcharge, but only if profits reach workers’ pockets.”
