Service Workers Are in Crisis. You Can Help.

Donate Now to Provide Emergency Support.

Restaurant workers and other service workers were already struggling. They need our help now more than ever.

We’re are now providing job relief and cash assistance to restaurant workers and incarcerated firefighters who need the money they aren’t getting to survive.

With 13.6 million workers, the restaurant industry is the largest employer of immigrants and one of the largest employers of women and people of color in the United States, but is also the lowest-paying. Due to the subminimum wage for tipped workers, still just $2.13 per hour federally, service workers use food stamps at double the rate of all other workers.

Now these workers are facing a severe crisis, as immigrant workers face threat of deportation, and all workers risk losing important benefits they rely on for survival like food stamps and Medicaid.

With hundreds of restaurants burned, closed, or closing, hundreds of thousands of restaurant workers have lost their jobs and will have difficulty finding work in their chosen profession anywhere near their previous jobs.

Since the restaurant industry is the largest employer of immigrant workers in LA and nationwide, these workers are also soon to be facing even more crisis with a threatened attack by the Trump Administration that will make it dangerous to seek new employment. 

In cities like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, up to 70% of all restaurant workers are foreign born, and 40% are undocumented. We know that the restaurant industry in the United States could not survive, and could not provide consumers with the amount of dining experience they currently enjoy, without these workers. But all over the country, we are hearing from restaurant workers, restaurant owners, and their families and communities that many are not able to go to work because they are afraid of ICE raids threatened by President Trump. Each day they are unable to go work is lost income that is preventing them from being able to feed and house their families.

Meanwhile, low-income restaurant workers are also facing an impending crisis. With the federal government freezing all forms of financial assistance, including food stamps and Medicaid, millions of restaurant workers will be unable to feed their families and cover their medical costs. The industry's incredibly low pay leaves these workers with no savings or safety net to fall back upon.

Service workers need our support, both through the higher wages that One Fair Wage is fighting for, and through immediate cash assistance and legal support to survive the current crisis. The Service Workers' Emergency Fund will provide cash assistance and free legal support in major cities where raids are happening, including Chicago and New York City, and also respond to restaurant workers and owners seeking guidance in other parts of the country.

In 2020, we raised $27,000,000 and helped 50,000 restaurant workers regain their financial stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Together we can make a real difference and impact to service workers facing the loss of their homes and workplaces. Please help!


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DO YOU NEED HELP?

Are you a service worker? or an incarcerated worker who has been affected by the LA devastation? If you’re an immigrant, please apply! We will provide assistance respecting your privacy and safety. We’re here to help.

 

CAN YOU GIVE HELP?

Your generosity can immediately help a service worker and/or incarcerated worker and their family not slip even further into poverty during this crisis. Tipped workers and other service workers who are seeing their communities devastated by the LA fires, or are experiencing fear due to ICE raids and other crisis need our immediate support. Please give what you can!

 
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HOW WILL THIS WORK?

Please note, workers who are already involved as members of One Fair wage or sign up with One Fair Wage and participate in a confirmation interview with one of our organizers will be qualified to receive assistance.  

 

WATCH: One Fair Wage president Saru Jayaraman on the how we got here — and the crisis facing tipped workers and service workers