Employees consider not returning to work

If restaurants can reopen their dining rooms from this Monday, they could well find themselves struggling with a shortage of staff.

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Employees say the uncertainty in the industry due to the pandemic has prompted them to look elsewhere to make a living.

Milovan Danielou said he decided to look for a new job during the second closure of restaurant dining rooms in the province, in the fall of 2020, when his employer at the time, the taco restaurant Grumman 78, has permanently closed its main location.

With dining halls closed and no tourists in town, there was little work to be done. “Everyone was struggling to find even part-time jobs,” he says.

Mr. Danielou now does data entry. His new job is less interesting, but the pay of $30 an hour is better, and he doesn’t fear losing his job if the health situation worsens.

“Nothing compares to a job in a restaurant: the adrenaline, the energy, the team, the people you meet. Nothing compares to this, he says. But that’s not enough to bring me back. I have to pay rent. We have to survive. »

The dining rooms of restaurants in Quebec were closed from December 30 as the number of COVID-19 cases in the province increased. Under the new rules, restaurants can open this Monday at 50% capacity, and there will be limits on the number of people from different households who can share a table.

Hospital kitchens

Liam Thomas, 32, admits he would never have chosen to leave the restaurant business if he hadn’t gone through the experience of two closures.

“I was yelled at for the millionth time in my cooking career. I just went out and never came back, he said in an interview. It was precipitated by the lockdowns and the belief that it could happen again. »

Mr. Thomas, who started working in restaurants at 18, now works as a transport attendant in a Montreal hospital; he helps patients get to x-rays and other appointments within the facility.

Although he confessed that he still misses the cooking frenzy sometimes, his new job is less stressful, better paid and offers more holidays.

“The issues that the pandemic has exposed have always been there for restaurant workers,” says Kaitlin Doucette, of the Canadian Coalition of Restaurant Workers, a group that campaigns for better working conditions in the industry. . She recalls that workers have not had health insurance and paid sick leave for a long time. The precarious nature of the work could lead to abuse and sexual harassment.

According to her, the government’s decision to close the dining rooms again has been particularly painful for the employees. The federal government only paid them $300 a week to help them.

” Start from scratch “

Martin Juneau, owner of Pastaga, a restaurant in Montreal’s Little Italy district, says he fears not finding enough staff for a reopening, which he says is the equivalent of “starting from scratch”.

“We have a lot of employees who have moved on, who wanted to change paths. They are no longer in catering or they no longer want to work with us, he says. For us, trying to restart the machine is a kind of nightmare. »

He was forced to close some other businesses, including a restaurant and wine shop, a corner grocery store and an ice cream shop, at the start of the pandemic. These businesses will remain closed, he confirms. “We are exactly the opposite of expanding. »

He fears having to close his dining room again. “We fear for next fall. We are afraid of not having the energy to go to next fall. »

Benoit Dessureault, owner of Chez Delmo, a restaurant in Old Montreal, says he managed to keep his oldest employees by hiring them for other activities during the closure.

Mr. Dessureault intends to take advantage of the reopening to reorient his establishment in order to devote himself to dinners.

“The office towers are still empty. You can’t present the same business model as before,” he said, adding that he hopes consumers will be more patient and understanding.

This article was produced with the financial support of the Facebook and The Canadian Press News Fellowships.

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