(Cross-posted on Calitics)
The Golden Gate Retaurant Association is organizing a one-day strike of San Francisco establishments, and they may be right.
We all support health care and living wages for American workers, but we as progressives still have to ask ourselves how where we draw the line in terms of regulations on local businesses. For example, you own a small restaurant in San Francisco and employ about a dozen employees. Unlike the stereotypical corporate chain establishment or the bistros owned by the likes of Gavin Newsom, you’re not getting rich, but you are making a living for yourself and your family, paying taxes and providing jobs albeit low-wage jobs) for your employees. Now, imagine getting hit by a triple-whammy of an increased minimum wage mandatory sick leave and health coverage, all at one time? What do restaurants do? Do they raise prices; thereby further squeezing what’s left of the middle class in San Francisco and possibly lose a loyal customer base? Cut service Lay people off?
Before you start calling me a DINO, I would admonish all of you to realize that even we progressives much realize that regulations have consequences. And a consequence in San Francisco could be the loss of many "mom and pop" establishments who not only provide great service but also tend to be a lot more family friendly for the few of us who have kids (we have to pick and choose for restaurants that would not like to kick us out the moment they see our son). Ultimately, the answer is a national health system that allows business to flourish without having to decide whether they can afford to cover their employees. In the meantime, let’s not choke them to death.