There comes a time where you can get sick, and what do we have here? The government isn't going to help you.Įn México, yo no cocinaba. With my age, and the experience that I have living in this country, I realize that this isn't living. We built a humble house on the land my parents left me. Hispanics are the pillar of the nation, but it's difficult for people to recognize that. Because if you look at it, Hispanics are in construction, Hispanics are in gardening, Hispanics are in hotels, in the restaurants, fixing the streets, in everything. We are the backbone of all businesses, not just restaurants. That's the reality in this country, everything is backwards.įor example, in my case, I'm thankful to for this help, but outside of that, I don't get help from anywhere else. Hispanic people in general are the most cautious, they are the hardest workers. The government is saying that we are a burden: What a lie! They ignore our productivity. Yesterday I went to work at a restaurant for the first time. They have to get out of debt before they can help us. We aren't accepting help from them, because they have student debt. What we haven't been able to accomplish, they have accomplished. They are working in San Francisco as nurses at a hospital. I have two kids who graduated from college at UC Berkeley. It's honestly helped a lot because you can't get much with $100 at the market anymore. My wife's nephew told me he gets food from this organization and we signed up. We've used the little savings we had to pay rent. I found steady work two or three days a week cleaning a garden and taking care of cars. I went out to look for work standing on street corners. First they cut our hours, and then they closed. I was working at an American bar and restaurant when the pandemic started. We are responsible for everything the cooks need. That's why I only work as a prep cook now. I was a sous chef.Īll jobs are tiring, but there are jobs that kill you little by little cooking is one of them. I worked for a Chinese company called Chinese Gourmet Express for like 14 years. The first job I had was in a car wash in Encino, and then I started working in a restaurant washing dishes, and eventually learned to cook. People started leaving, and one of them was me. In the '80s, you would hear people saying that in the United States, you make good money. We weren't rich, but we always had enough food. Gaspar, prep cook originally from Oaxaca, Mexico ( Read more about No Us Without You here.)īelow are some of the stories of these workers, in their own words. The founders and weekly volunteers, who are all industry veterans, see their efforts as a way to give back to the essential workers that made their own careers possible. When COVID-19 put them out of work, many were forced to use up savings, and in the worst cases, choose between paying rent or buying food.Īs mutual aid efforts sprung up in response nationwide, Los Angeles-based grassroots organization No Us Without You started feeding the families of undocumented restaurant workers. About 10 percent of restaurant employees in the United States are undocumented immigrants (many studies estimate that number to be much higher) although they pay taxes, with few exceptions, undocumented workers are unable to receive government aid like unemployment benefits. It’s said that prep cooks, dishwashers, and bussers are the backbone of the restaurant industry, but when the pandemic arrived, forcing restaurants to shutter, it was these workers who were hardest hit.
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