Emily Teel is a journalist and a fine dining server. At the time Edible Philly was a new magazine in the city which features our rich food and restaurant culture.
So, you can be sure that it would have been much easier for Ms. Teel and Edible to avoid the topic of the Earned Sick Leave fight that was simmering in the city and on full sear in the restaurant world.
Nonetheless, Teel reached out to me in the fall of 2013 wanting to learn more about what we were doing (I was then working for the Restaurant Opportunities Center) to help pass the law and to hear more about how our members were affected by not having access to paid sick days.
Of course, Emily knew how difficult it is to not have paid sick days being a server herself.
That passion really came through in her reportage which was published in the Spring of 2014.
Emily Teel and her Editor, Joy Manning should be applauded for their courage.
You can be sure that the restaurant industry expected mostly glowing reviews and exciting profiles of themselves and the industry when Edible Philly starting publishing.
Edible Philly does plenty of that too, however, on paid sick days, they played it straight. I am sure that that was not easy to do.
Despite whatever sneers they may have gotten from the food industry at that time, I would hope that they now feel vindicated since our city has now passed a paid sick day policy that covers almost all food workers.
Please take a minute to celebrate the courage of Emily Teel and Edible Philly by voting for them to receive an Eddy Award- http://www.ediblefeast.com/eddyawards/vote/2015/9352/people-ethical-treatment-restaurant-workers
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