# Dishwashers wanted $50,000 per annum



## MartinHughes (Oct 4, 2021)

So this ad went got a lot of traction in Vancouver over the last month with several news reports to the point where the owner no longer wanted to talk to the press.

Handi Indian Restaurant was offering $25.00 Canadian eh! per hour for a 40 hour week or approximately $50,000 per year for washing dishes and Vancouver lost its collective shit. Hearing comments from people who have never set foot inside a commercial (or their own) kitchen saying that they would love to do this made me smile.

If there is ever a restaurant job that deserves this wage it is the dishwasher, its thankless, damp, stinky and monotonous. Yes, we all jump in when needed to look the hero and escape the pressures of our own jobs but honestly who amongst us would want to do it day in day out? 

The local Go To Vancouver Restaurant CEO and Talking Head was on the news bemoaning that if he had to pay his dishwashers this amount how much would he have to pay the rest of the staff and in my mind he missed the point, a good dishwasher is crucial to the smooth operation of a restaurant and its harder to replace a good dishwasher than a cook so the dishwasher deserves the pay, the jobs do not compare so if the cooks don't like it they can always become dishwashers.

imagine your stress relief if you knew that your immigrant dishwasher who is now able to feed their family on 1 salary instead of working 2 or 3 jobs and you knew that they were always going to show up and do a good job instead of relying on ............ and all the angst and attitude that he brings to the table, Sometimes it's better to bite the bullet and resolve the problem once instead of scrambling every few months and watching the back door the day after payday in the forlorn hope that .......... will show up even though they are are already 45 minutes late.

BTW minimum wage in B.C. is $15.20 per hour and most good line cooks are into the low 20's per hour.


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## summer57 (Sep 21, 2010)

Plus, Vancouver is now the least affordable city in North America - https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-housing-affordability

Housing is by far the most expensive part of living here. Restaurants, in my experience, aren't anywhere near as expensive as those in other big cities, and I believe groceries, clothes etc., cost the same as anywhere else in Canada (which is, of course, cheaper for Americans who visit here because of the exchange rate).
(Not complaining... I just sold my house and bought a condo).


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## MartinHughes (Oct 4, 2021)

summer57 said:


> Plus, Vancouver is now the least affordable city in North America - https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-housing-affordability
> 
> Housing is by far the most expensive part of living here. Restaurants, in my experience, aren't anywhere near as expensive as those in other big cities, and I believe groceries, clothes etc., cost the same as anywhere else in Canada (which is, of course, cheaper for Americans who visit here because of the exchange rate).
> (Not complaining... I just sold my house and bought a condo).


I agree that we are a very expensive city and that maybe we do not pay everyone enough however my point on the post is to highlight the fact that sometimes its better to pay somebody more than the cooks to do a shitty job that no one wants and it should not be used as a comparison with other kitchen jobs, if it wasn't treated as a bottom of the pile shit job that no one respects maybe there wouldn't be so much turn over.


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## L'uovo vulcanico (Nov 9, 2020)

I got hired as a line cook in my early 20s... and they paid me that wage, BUT I had to show I would to the scut work of Pots, Dishes, Prep, etc... so I KNEW the business, Did it suck? Yep!!! But I got my paycheck and I was happy. It was THEIR business, and I got I had to do ANYTHING the owners asked to keep us afloat. This includes being a contract training camp for an NFL team. Playing an Rover on banquets. And doing scut work because it's what the business required. When you see the Maitre'd (who got paid a HELL of a lot more than I) roll up his starched sleeved and wash dishes next to you because it needs to be done - - it humbles you a LOT. 

SIX months each. And I held no hope I would progress, EVEN THO they were paying me Line wages.. They wanted to KNOW I could (a) be part of the family, and (b) wasn't a flake. I made the grade, but a LOT of flakes couldn't make 4 weeks... because "Dishing" or "prepping" was somehow beneath them, even tho they were getting paid Line wages...

You gotta put up with the shit, but when you do you'll be AMAZED the opportunities that crop up. If you think you're "better" than "that", then the only person you're fooling is yourself. Be true to yourself, KNOW your worth and ROCK into it. Or run away, and go sell used cars or something.

People look at our craft as something to be disdained, but I look at it as asn HONOR to feed people better than they expect, make them SMILE - I don't care if its a cople celebrating their honeymoon, a 150 person banquet that says "wow", or an NFL team that says "Damn, this is awesome, let me meet the chef"... . Go into it like that and you win. Go in with an attitude of "This sucks" and "I am better than this so Eff You" (and I know so many people who pulled that crap) and you should be somewhere else.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Imagine this......A banquet house serving 3,000 people on a Saturday night. Four different rooms, with four different menus. Kitchen staff of 38 with a dishroom of 5 guys. 
S __t hit the fan within an hour of after service with tray upon tray of dirty dishes, and bar glasses coming in.
I trained my guys and often worked until 2-3 in the morning after working 12 hours cooking and serving.
All my dishwashers relied on one guy to drive them in from the city. If he was sick, I had no dishwashers. Yes, once I drove into the city to pick them all up and bring them to work.
Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
I couldn't imagine kitchen life without the dishroom.
They are worth every penny and more.


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