Rising costs and increasingly-strict labor mandates have long troubled San Francisco restaurateurs to the point that some have wondered if the city is killing its restaurants. Today, those same restaurateurs can claim a momentary victory. In what's proving to be a very labor-centric day, a federal judge shot down a Bush administration proposal that would have made restaurateurs much more reluctant to hire and employ illegal workers:
[The ruling] has some restaurant owners in San Francisco relieved, for now, that they aren't made to enforce immigration laws. However, that same ruling has groups opposed to illegal immigration incensed.Two of the plaintiffs in the case were local organizations: the Golden Gate Restaurant Association and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Both groups brought up several valid arguments opposing the Bush administration proposal, namely that such a sweep would be unwise since the "no-match" list contains scores of legal residents. Also, according the GGRA, there over 2.5 undocumented workers in just California, the sudden elimination of which could be quite troubling.Federal judge Charles Breyer ruled to block the Department of Homeland Security's plan to force companies to fire, collectively, up to 8 million workers whose names and Social Security numbers don't match .
· Court Ruling is a Relief for SF Restaurants [KCBS]
· Is San Francisco killing its restaurants? [SFM]
· Disgruntled Workers Cause Ruckus at Tres Agaves [~ESF~]
