<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/08/40-percent-restuarant-workers-live-near-poverty">http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/08/40-percent-restuarant-workers-live-near-poverty</a><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25px; "><div style="margin-top: 0.8em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; ">It isn't just <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/07/mcdonalds-nlrb-ruling-worker-lawsuits" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">fast-food empires</a> that rely on a l<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/12/fast-food-strike-minimum-wage" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">ow-paid, disempowered, and quite-often impoverished workforce</a>. As a stomach-turning new report (PDF viewable<a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/restaurant-workers/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">here</a>) from the Economic Policy Institute shows, the entire restaurant industry hides a dirty little labor secret under the tasteful lighting of the dining room.</div><div class="inline inline-left" style="display: table; float: left; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; width: 400px; "><img alt="" class="image" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; vertical-align: bottom; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " id="ce6571e2-3ac6-40df-8747-04ce49a82774" height="220" width="400" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:CC05A2D6-46EF-47B6-823C-9C0868A0AA78"></div><div style="margin-top: 0.8em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; ">Here are some highlights:</div><div style="margin-top: 0.8em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; "><strong>• The restaurant industry is a massive and growing source of employment.</strong> It accounts for more than 9 percent of US private-sector jobs—up from a little more than 7 percent in 1990. That's nearly a 30 percent gain.</div><div style="margin-top: 0.8em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; "><strong>• The industry's wages have stagnated at an extremely low level.</strong></div><div style="margin-top: 0.8em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; "><strong><br></strong></div><div style="margin-top: 0.8em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; "><strong><br></strong></div></span>http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/08/40-percent-restuarant-workers-live-near-poverty</div><div><br></div></body></html>