Waffle House raises worker pay after strikes and pressure from labor organizers

By: Dee-ann Durbin, The Associated Press Posted: Last Modified:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Waffle House is increasing pay for its U.S. workers after a year-long push from labor advocates.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/06/2024 (850 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Waffle House is increasing pay for its U.S. workers after a year-long push from labor advocates.

In a video message to employees late last month, Waffle House CEO Joe Rogers III said base pay would rise to at least $3 per hour in June and then gradually rise to at least $5.25 per hour by June 2026. Base pay doesn’t include workers’ tips, and will be higher in some states depending on minimum wage laws, Rogers said.

Rogers said wage increases will be paid for by higher menu prices, and that wages will rise more slowly in some rural markets than in urban ones. The company is also adding tenure bonuses and premiums for working later shifts.

FILE - A Waffle House sign is shown in Indianapolis Feb. 19, 2024. Waffle House is increasing pay for its U.S. workers after a year-long push from labor advocates.(AP Photo/Isabella Volmert, File)
FILE - A Waffle House sign is shown in Indianapolis Feb. 19, 2024. Waffle House is increasing pay for its U.S. workers after a year-long push from labor advocates.(AP Photo/Isabella Volmert, File)

Waffle House wouldn’t confirm the wage increase Tuesday when it was contacted by The Associated Press. The Union of Southern Service Workers, a labor group affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, provided the AP with a link to the video.

Over the last year, the Union of Southern Service Workers has held strikes at Waffle House locations to demand higher pay, 24-hour security at restaurants and an end to the company’s practice of deducting $3.15 per day from workers’ paychecks for meals regardless of whether they eat while on the job.

The group also has asked the Department of Labor to review the meal deductions.

“The raises show that the company is feeling the heat,” Katie Giede, a Waffle House server in Atlanta who wants to see wages increased to $25 per hour, said. “We’re going to keep organizing and keep fighting until we win.”

Waffle House has 2,000 restaurant locations across the U.S., primarily in the South and Midwest. The company has its corporate headquarters in Norcross, Georgia.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Winnipeg more than its worst headlines

Marwa Suraj 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Winnipeg takes a reputational beating sometimes and some of the criticism is deserved.

Concerns about public safety are real. Homelessness remains painfully visible. Too many people are struggling with addiction, poverty, mental illness and inadequate housing in plain sight.

Those concerns deserve to be taken seriously. But a city can be making measurable progress, struggling badly in other areas and still be reduced unfairly to its worst headlines. Winnipeg deserves neither denial nor caricature.

Take public safety.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Two nurses working at the Grace Hospital have been fined $2,500 each and reprimanded for an IV infusion gone bad and an attempted coverup.

Nurses disciplined for botched IV infusion

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Preview

Nurses disciplined for botched IV infusion

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:36 PM CDT

Two nurses working at the Grace Hospital have been reprimanded and fined $2,500 each for an IV infusion gone bad and an attempted coverup.

The incident happened on November 23, 2023 when a nurse asked a colleague to set up an IV infusion on him in an unused operating room.

During the attempted IV start, the nurse lost consciousness. The nurse who attempted the IV drip and another who was in the room called for help and several staff responded.

The nurse regained consciousness and vomited, but recovered and continued to work his shift, a March 18 decision by the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba says.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 4:36 PM CDT
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods Winnipeg Jets goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) saves the Colorado Avalanche shot during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

Jets goaltender quickly taking on folk hero status with hot start

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Preview

Jets goaltender quickly taking on folk hero status with hot start

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:03 AM CDT

Stuart Skinner is giving the hometown crowd plenty to cheer about.

The Winnipeg Jets new No. 1 netminder came up with another brilliant performance, making 32 saves — including several of the highlight-reel variety — to propel his team to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre.

With each save he makes and each win he records, Skinner is doing what he can to help turn the page on the Connor Hellebuyck era.

“I would say that they are big shoes to fill 100 per cent, but I’m not looking into the scenario of filling his shoes,” said Skinner, who lowered his goals-against average to 2.62 and raised his save percentage to .920 through three starts. “My job’s the same job as any other goalie in this league. So it’s a little bit of a difficult question for me to truly answer.”

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 10:03 AM CDT
Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Files A recent Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries report shows Manitobans are less thirsty for alcohol and more hungry for gaming and cannabis.

Booze sales down, gaming and cannabis up in Manitoba

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Booze sales down, gaming and cannabis up in Manitoba

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

MANITOBA Liquor and Lotteries delivered $724.1 million in profits to the province in 2025-26, with the lion’s share coming from alcohol, even as booze sales continue to shrink.

The Crown corporation’s contribution to Manitoba’s general revenues decreased by $6 million or 0.8 per cent from last year’s allocation of $730.1 million, its annual report shows.

That indicates stable overall performance “despite a changing operating environment,” the recently-released report said.

Those changes include the order from Premier Wab Kinew last year to remove U.S. alcohol from Liquor Mart store shelves after President Donald Trump launched a trade war against Canada as well as Manitobans’ changing tastes.

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT
‘Please excuse us from writing these notes …’

‘Please excuse us from writing these notes …’

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

‘Please excuse us from writing these notes …’

Editorial 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

It’s a common-sense prescription for the health-care system. The only wonder is that it took so long to happen.

On Oct. 1, new provincial legislation came into effect that will stop employers from requiring employees to get a sick note from a physician unless the employee has been absent for more than a week or has called in sick 10 or more times in a calendar year.

And the legislation could have a big effect.

Doctors Manitoba has calculated that its members write over 600,000 sick notes every year — a process that costs the provincial health-care system approximately $8 million annually. And the effort doesn’t even help sick workers get better: one-third of sick notes are written for patients who don’t even have symptoms anymore, making them little more than a comfortable fiction. To put it simply, doctors have to trust that a symptom-less patient was sick and write a note saying they were ill, in order to satisfy an employer who doesn’t share that same level of trust.

Read
2:01 AM CDT
FILE - A Waffle House sign is shown in Indianapolis Feb. 19, 2024. Waffle House is increasing pay for its U.S. workers after a year-long push from labor advocates.(AP Photo/Isabella Volmert, File)

Waffle House raises worker pay after strikes and pressure from labor organizers

Dee-ann Durbin, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Waffle House raises worker pay after strikes and pressure from labor organizers

Dee-ann Durbin, The Associated Press 2 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2024

Waffle House is increasing pay for its U.S. workers after a year-long push from labor advocates.

In a video message to employees late last month, Waffle House CEO Joe Rogers III said base pay would rise to at least $3 per hour in June and then gradually rise to at least $5.25 per hour by June 2026. Base pay doesn’t include workers’ tips, and will be higher in some states depending on minimum wage laws, Rogers said.

Rogers said wage increases will be paid for by higher menu prices, and that wages will rise more slowly in some rural markets than in urban ones. The company is also adding tenure bonuses and premiums for working later shifts.

Waffle House wouldn't confirm the wage increase Tuesday when it was contacted by The Associated Press. The Union of Southern Service Workers, a labor group affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, provided the AP with a link to the video.

Read
Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2024