We missed this on Saturday, but here’s Danny Westneat on how and why T-Doug decided to raise his company’s minimum wage for cooks and bakers to $15 an hour (a 25 percent increase), and raise his minimum wage for dishwashers from $10 an hour to $12 (a 20 percent increase). However, Westneat notes parenthetically: “(He’s not raising wages for waiters, who get paid primarily in tips.)”
Douglas doesn’t want to see a minimum-wage raise mandated. He seems to hope that other business owners—including, eventually, McDonald’s—will be forced by the market to follow his lead and do it themselves, which is cute.
“I don’t know—I realize they’re probably not teaching this approach in business school!” Douglas laughed. “I’m not exactly the best capitalist ever.”
In any case: Props to T-Doug for treating low-wage workers better! Who else in the Seattle restaurant world will do the right thing?