I opened my cafe, Abi’s Cafe on Lake Street in April of last year with a goal to both bring authentic Salvadorian food to the Twin Cities, and also to help create jobs in the community.
I see a lot of workers — especially my Latino customers and neighbors on Lake Street, who work really hard and aren’t getting paid enough for what they do. Many of those people — who work in small retail shops and restaurants — are working two or three jobs just to make what someone else would be with one job. When you are working that hard, you should be able to eat a good pupusa lunch. Unfortunately, eating out is a luxury for a lot of people.
So when I heard about the idea of earned sick and safe time, which would help make sure people could take a day of when they need it and not worry about making the rent or paying bills, I thought it was a good idea. I still do — people need this extra benefit — especially people working in the back of the house.
As I works toward providing living wages to my employees as I grow, this ordinance makes sense — and is a huge benefit at a low cost. On top of that, I want to make sure the people cooking and serving our food are 100 percent healthy, and when I got out to eat, I expect the same.
I hope the Minneapolis City Council passes as strong ordinance, giving as many workers access to paid sick days as possible.
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