Testimony on SB716,“Labor and Employment - Maryland Wage and Hour Law - Payment of Wages”
For Senate Finance Committee, March 3, 2011
Craig Sewell, Owner, A Cook’s Café, Annapolis
I am submitting this testimony to voice my support as a business owner for raising Maryland’s minimum wage. It is a vital step for the wellbeing of our workers, our economy and our state.
A Cook’s Café has been in business in Annapolis since 2002. Its business model is based on four activities – restaurant, catering, cooking instruction and connecting consumers with local foods through its Market Basket program which has now been taken online at Marylandtable.com. The staff is small, but dedicated. We interact closely and frequently with our suppliers – the farmers of Maryland.
The Café’s reach is well beyond the confines of the brick and mortar of the restaurant. It reaches into the fields, pastures and waterways of our state. We know the people who till the land, capture the seafood and raise the livestock that we either prepare or deliver in harvested form to our customers. They are the foundation of our community. They deserve to earn a living wage. For example, my employees are paid a base rate of $12/hour.
It is my experience that the more divorced ownership is from its employees the less the welfare of the employee – and his or her family – means to the owners. As a consequence, it is usually the local and independent business that is most sensitive to ensuring their employees earn a living wage, because they are seen as a vital contributor to the success of the business and a source of true value – not just as a cost.
Arguments that paying a living wage creates a hardship on small, independent business – and the restaurant business in particular – are extremely short sighted and not evidenced in my experience. The investment I make in my employees pays dividends many times over in customer satisfaction and increased workmanship.
In addition, our support system, the agricultural workers of Maryland deserve compensation commensurate with the vital services they provide – a locally based, sustainable supply of healthy food, raised in concert with environmental concerns with livestock humanely treated.
A vibrant local, living economy can only be achieved when all workers are paid a living wage and all are justly compensated, which lifts the overall wellbeing of the community.