PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Restaurant insiders are concerned about the impact of Gov. Tom Wolf’s sudden decision to eliminate indoor dining through the holiday season.
The temporary ban, which starts on Saturday, is sure to cause a spike in unemployment — “and not just for the three weeks the governor’s predicting,” said John Longstreet, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if half the restaurants in the state never reopen after these mitigation efforts.
“In a survey we recently did, 45% of the restaurants in Pennsylvania said that they couldn’t stay open for six months if conditions didn’t change,” he said. “This is obviously going to exacerbate that.”
According to the association, there were 580,000 food service jobs statewide in 2019, representing about 10% of all employment in the state.
Most front-of-the-house employees — waitresses, hostesses, bartenders and the like — will be laid off because there’s no dining room service. “All those people that were counting on the money they would make over the next 10 days — two weeks before Christmas — are going to be out of work.”
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But Longstreet said his biggest problem is not that the governor made this decision, but that he did it so suddenly.
“There could’ve at least been some notice if there was going to be mitigation — something that we’ve requested repeatedly of the governor’s office,” he noted. “Think about when you give notice to leave a job or when you give notice that somebody’s going to be out of a job. At least give them some notice.”
A two-week notice would have given employers time to juggle schedules, he said, and perhaps help workers get on unemployment.
“And then think of the 24 hours of notice, the millions of dollars and tens of thousands of pounds of food rotting in coolers across the state because no one knew this was coming — and obviously, they’ve been contemplating these things,” said Longstreet.
Wolf’s latest restrictions — which go beyond indoor dining — take effect Saturday, Dec. 12, and last through Jan. 4, 2021.