News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The state of the restaurant industry by wozniacki on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @01:54PM (#22607844)
Whats more remarkable is that no one has made a peep about RENTAL PAYMENT DEFERRALS or SUSPENSIONS to even COMMERCIAL LANDLORDS of APARTMENTS / SINGLE FAMILY HOMES yet somehow sit-down restaurants and their health are a top concern.

These priorities are lop-sided at best.

Restaurants are not a critical component of your basic sustenance. They never were, in the course of human history. Heavy dependence on them for ones immediate sustenance needs is a very recent development.

On the other hand, shelter is.

Re:The state of the restaurant industry by milesskorpen on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @02:39PM (#22608492)
Probably because the buildings aren't going anywhere. Landlords will lose money, but they're less likely to lay off tons of people.

Restaurants employ ~10% of working Americans. A lot of people are going to lose jobs.

Re:The state of the restaurant industry by wozniacki on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @05:00PM (#22610373)

  Restaurants employ ~10% of working Americans. A lot of
  people are going to lose jobs.
No one disputes that. Although that 10% figure needs corroboration. As other comments have pointed out restaurants have switched to take-out and delivery and will need ample workers for those operations.

But meanwhile what happens to the other 90% Americans who are working who face uncertain futures - some even in underrepresented sectors or even non-union sectors? How do they make rent or their mortgage payments?

All I'm asking is why are restaurant workers deserving of such singular attention and their concerns need such elevation over the rest of the entire working classes of America including other blue & white collar workers?

Re:The state of the restaurant industry by milesskorpen on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @06:32PM (#22611295)
It's a SINGLE INDUSTRY that represents 10% of our workforce; I think that's more than any other. Overwhelmingly they are non-unionized. Profit margins for restaurants are very slim (avg. around 5%). Take-out/delivery is not going to come close to replacing the lost business. Many restaurants will close - many already have.

This is not to say other industries (like hotels) won't also be badly hurt. But restaurants are probably the single largest highly effected sector.

Re:The state of the restaurant industry by robocat on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @02:10PM (#22608101)
“No one” in the US perhaps?

Some other countries already have programs. NZ just introduced a program where everyone who’s job is locked-out will still get paid (so they can continue to pay bills). Other countries have different programs.

Re:The state of the restaurant industry by GeorgeWBasic on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @03:57PM (#22609578)
I don't understand how a program like that, paying just the workers, is going to help when the business they work for still goes out of business. It needs to be suspended payments for everybody: the renters, the landlords and homeowners paying their mortgages, the businesses paying their rent, and so on. You can't just target one group and forget the rest or everything collapses.
Re:The state of the restaurant industry by freeone3000 on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @05:25PM (#22610626)
Shelter is a human right. Landlords aren't.