Center for Labor Education & Research, University of Hawaii - West Oahu: Honolulu Record Digitization Project
Honolulu Record, Volume 10 No. 2, Thursday, August 8, 1957 p. 6
Restaurant Owner Has Earful for legislators; She'd like to Punch 'Em
By Staff Writer
"I'm waiting for Jack Burns to come back I just want to tell him what this Legislature did
That's the way the worried woman who runs a little restaurant patronized by many government workers, begins the airing of her woes.
"People say it is the Democrats that did it," she goes on "We're Democrats and we don't like to hear that The Republicans did the same thing. I think those people in the Legislature, they all make good money, so they don't think about us. Maybe they thought they were doing good for people, but they didn't."
Why, she was asked, does she want to tell her troubles to Delegate Jack Burns? Why doesn't she want to tell members of the legislature.
They won't listen I think Jack Burns will listen I'll let him tell them.
Problem of Hours
What did the Legislature do that was so bad? How did they hurt her business so much? "What did they do? What did they do? They did everything! They hit me with everything all at once. They put the minimum wage up and that wouldn't be so bad. We could pay that and never mind. But they cut the hours, too, to 44. A place like this — it can't afford to pay time-and-a-half for over-time; So we have to look for extra girls to fill in the rest of the hours."
She pauses to catch breath and goes on, "It's hard to find girls for a little place like this Big places, they can find girls, but it's hard for us. And the girls are no better off. They just get less hours and no more pay."
Part of the theory of the increased minimum wage per hour was that workers would have more money to spend on small business Government workers, it has been argued, would have more to spend, too. Is that reflected at the restaurant?
Business Falls Off'"That's what I, thought, too" says the proprietress, "but instead my business has fallen, off. The government workers say they get a little more money, but their rent went up, their taxes went up, everything went up. They say now they can't afford to eat lunch out. More end more of them are bringing their lunch I know my customers. They've been coming here for years, and now they tell me they can't afford to eat out. My business is off plenty."
At the same time prices of commodities the restaurant buys from the wholesaler have gone up. "Only this week both ham and bacon are up," says the woman. "The wholesaler doesn't care. He puts the things up and I have to pay. They say 'tax' and I have more tax, and they say just raise my prices that much more. But I can't just raise the prices without thinking. More and more of my customers will stop eating lunch out. More and more will start bringing their lunches."
Then, on the menu she shows how she has raised prices—and put desserts on the a la carte list Yet the raise isn't bringing in enough difference to pay the costs, the proprietress says. , "But that's not enough I" she says indignantly "That's not enough! They have to have more property tax, too. About 50 percent more I call up and ask if they can give me a little more time and they say no. Now everything hits me at once and I don't know how I'm going to pay. Why did they have to do it all at once? Why couldn't they go a step at a time?"
It is suggested that a few legislators be invited in to hear her complaints at first hand, but she thinks she'd better tell Burns Or even the reporter.
"You tell 'em," she says "Better you tell 'em what I say if they come in, here, I might punch 'em."