Miami Event Kicks off Human Trafficking Awareness Month with Local, National Groups, Florida Officials

(L-R: Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association President & CEO Carol Dover, Attorney General Ashley Moody, Miami Super Bowl Host Committee Executive Director Ray Martinez, American Hotel & Lodging Association President & CEO Chip Rogers)

[Miami, Fla] The hotel industry convened today the National Football League, national and local Florida organizations and human trafficking prevention groups to kick off a month-long series of events to raise awareness about the scourge of human trafficking which affects 40 million people around the globe. In an effort to help spot and stop traffickers who exploit the travel and tourism industry, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), in partnership with the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA), convened a half-day summit with key stakeholders which included a training of hotel employees

Joined by Attorney General Ashley Moody, lawmakers and leading experts, the event highlighted pivotal partnerships with law enforcement and effective tools that have been implemented to reduce the number of incidents of trafficking in hotels.

Due to an influx of visitors during large events such as the Super Bowl, increased instances of human trafficking can occur, which is why the hotel industry launched a pivotal campaign last year, No Room for Trafficking, with the goal of training every hotel employee to spot and stop trafficking. As part of this month’s awareness activities, AHLA is convening the broader travel community to help raise awareness around this critical issue.

The event featured a human trafficking prevention training session certifying at least 200 hotel employees and highlighted the launch of It’s a Penalty’s fifth global campaign, the third around the Super Bowl, to raise awareness among sports fans and the general public in an effort to educate about the signs and ways to report instances of trafficking. It’s a Penalty launched the campaign in coordination with event attendees A21, as well as the Super Bowl Host Committee, The Women’s Fund Miami-Dade, the Office of Miami-Dade State Attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the Miami Dolphins and the NFL, and in partnership with local, state and federal agencies including the U.S Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, HSI, FBI, federal and local trafficking task forces, and over 300 local community partner organizations.

 “Human trafficking is a deplorable crime that damages and destroys millions of lives. Because of this, the hotel industry is committed to helping lead the way in bringing it to an end. Our goal is to ultimately have every hotel employee in the United States trained on how to spot and stop trafficking,” said Chip Rogers, president and CEO of AHLA. “We believe it is critical to convene our entire industry around a united approach to combat human trafficking and build partnerships with law enforcement officers and leaders in the prevention space, such as Attorney General Ashley Moody and leading prevention partners like It’s a Penalty and A21. While there is still much more to do, we believe our shared commitment to training and education will continue to make a difference.”

Already each year, thousands of hotel employees are trained on how to spot and stop trafficking. With the launch of AHLA’s No Room for Trafficking campaign and AAHOA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Training, the hotel industry is continuing its strong record by convening the entire industry around the goal of training every hotel worker.

 Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Human trafficking dehumanizes victims and deteriorates our society. It is vital that we utilize partnerships across all levels of government and industry to end this atrocious crime. That is why I am proud to support Florida’s hotel industry and prevention partners ahead of Super Bowl LIV as we unite efforts around our shared goal of ending human trafficking. I strongly encourage all service industries to train their employees to spot and report these crimes. Working together we can end trafficking in Florida and build a stronger safer Florida.”

“We’re so proud to launch our Super Bowl campaign in Miami in partnership with hotel industry leaders, the Attorney General and Florida lawmakers. By harnessing the power of sport to prevent exploitation, we will comprehensively address trafficking by raising awareness, educating the public and training employees,” said Sarah de Carvalho, CEO It’s a Penalty Campaign. 

 “Florida’s hospitality industry is second to none and, therefore, is an incredibly vulnerable target for human trafficking,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “We are committed to stopping this horrible crime, and we are proud of our efforts to equip our hospitality team members. Engaging and empowering those on the forefront to recognize and expose traffickers is essential to this fight. We will continue our efforts with local, state, and national partners to ensure safety throughout our industry.”

“A hotel’s front desk can be the first line of defense when it comes to saving lives and keeping human traffickers out of our communities. That’s why America’s hotel owners are committed partners in the fight against trafficking. Through education and awareness initiatives, we are working to ensure that every hotel owner and their employees are trained to identify and respond to instances of human trafficking,” said AAHOA President and CEO Cecil Staton.

“This campaign will shed light on the severity of this issue, both here in Florida and across the country, and will allow thousands to learn the signs of human trafficking.  We are proud to partner with the hotel industry here ahead of the Super Bowl in this critical effort,” said Mollie Thorsen, U.S. Director of Advocacy, A21. 

Throughout National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, AHLA will continue efforts to raise public awareness and facilitate collaboration with policymakers, law enforcement and hoteliers on best practices for policies, procedures and training to enhance our human trafficking prevention efforts. January’s activities will be the first of many during this year’s No Room for Trafficking push. Looking further into 2020, AHLA will be highlighting the industry’s on-going efforts with targeted events across the country including Massachusetts, Arizona, Nevada, Delaware, California, Illinois, Rhode Island, Maryland, West Virginia and more. We will also be working with key states to advance legislation at the state level and continuing to provide our members and industry with on-going support and resources. We will continue to grow and enhance the industry’s efforts with partnerships and member engagement.

Attorney General Moody, Florida Lawmakers, Miami Dolphins and the NFL, National Organizations and Local Partners participate as part of AHLA’s No Room for Trafficking Campaign

[Miami, Fla] On Thursday, January 9, hotel industry officials, lawmakers, local partners and leading experts are joining forces ahead of Super Bowl LIV to rally against human trafficking. Large events, such as the Super Bowl, can create opportunities for instances of human trafficking due to an influx of visitors, and the hotel industry is tackling this through the No Room for Trafficking Campaign and support of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. This half-day summit aims to spotlight what can be done to spot and stop traffickers in Florida.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), in partnership with the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA), is convening Attorney General Ashley Moody, state lawmakers, local hoteliers, and human trafficking prevention organizations It’s a Penalty and A21 to expand on nationwide efforts. The event will include a human trafficking prevention training session for hotel employees at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.

The event will also include an official launch and overview of the It’s A Penalty campaign in partnership with Miami Super Bowl Host Committee and with support from AHLA, FRLA, A21, The Women’s Fund Miami-Dade, the Office of Miami-Dade State Attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the Miami Dolphins and the NFL. The campaign is also in partnership with local, state and federal agencies including the U.S Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, HSI, FBI, federal and local trafficking task forces, and over 300 local community partner organizations.

The state officials and lawmakers will also participate in a human trafficking prevention training session with local hotel employees at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. The hotel industry has long recognized the critical role it plays in ending the scourge of human trafficking, and through innovative techniques and employee training is building upon current efforts ahead of the Super Bowl to ensure all employees are trained in identifying, reporting and stopping instances of human trafficking.

Already each year, thousands of hotel employees are trained on how to identify and stop trafficking. With the launch of AHLA’s No Room for Trafficking campaign and AAHOA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Training, the hotel industry builds on its strong record by convening the entire industry around the goal of training every hotel worker.

Visit here for more information on the No Room for Trafficking regional event.

[Tallahassee, Fla] Florida ProStart raised $138,781.94 on Oct. 17 in partnership with Whole Foods Market Florida stores. As part of the grocer’s quarterly Community Giving Day, 5% of the day’s net sales were donated to Florida ProStart to better serve high school students in the vicinity of Whole Foods Market stores statewide by furthering their education and training in the foodservice industry.

“This donation from Whole Foods Markets will have a tremendous impact on Florida ProStart students as it will allow us to offer over 50 more scholarships in the Sunshine State,” said Laura Rumer, Director of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association Educational Foundation (FRLAEF). “Florida ProStart is in 238 schools around the state, helping high school students get a solid start in an incredible industry filled with opportunity for advancement. We look forward to finding more ways to partner with Whole Foods Markets as we continue to promote hospitality education in Florida.”

Whole Foods Markets hosts several Community Giving Days per year, offering customers the opportunity to make a difference through their regular grocery shopping. Florida ProStart was chosen as the third quarter nonprofit in August of this year, and 29 Whole Foods Market stores around Florida participated in the event. Money raised through the October Community Giving Day will be used to bolster ProStart scholarships as well as for ProStart kitchen grants.

Each year, FRLAEF gives out more than $40,000 in scholarships and awards $80,000 in mini grants to schools throughout the state. Additionally, one school is selected each year to receive a $50,000 kitchen remodel, and the 2019-2020 grant was awarded to Coral Shores High School last month.

[Clearwater, Fla] Last Wednesday, Oct. 9, over 160 people gathered at the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater Beach for the Pinellas Chapter of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association’s (FRLA) inaugural ROSE Awards. The ROSE (Recognition of Service Excellence) Awards honor hospitality industry employees in the region dedicated to excellent customer service. Area hotels, vacation rentals and restaurants nominated 33 individuals from Pinellas County to acknowledge those making a difference in the local hospitality community. Last week’s winners each received a bouquet of a dozen roses, an award pin, certificate and a crystal award.

“These incredible men and women represent just a small fraction of the outstanding hospitality employees in the Tampa Bay area,” said Eric Waltz, General Manager of the Sandpearl Resort and ROSE Award Chairman. “Our region’s hospitality workers are what make the biggest difference and keep guests coming back. We are thrilled to be able to honor them and their hard work.”

The 2019 ROSE Award winners are are:

Lina Gomez, Retail Attendant at the Don Cesar Hotel
David Kent, Activities Beach & Pool Attendant at the Sandpearl Resort
Michael Kilmer, Housekeeping: Window Cleaner at the Opal Sands Resort
Amy Scott, Opening Server at Village Inn Restaurant
Danielle Wainwright, Sales System Administrator at the Hyatt Clearwater Beach

For more information about the ROSE Awards, contact FRLA Pinellas Chapter Regional Director, Dannette Lynch at 727-642-3404 or [email protected].

How $15/hour minimum wage will hurt the people it’s supposed to help.

A $15/hour minimum wage grabs attention. It promises to address exploitative wages, to lift the impoverished into the middle class, and to fight income inequality. And for warm-hearted, well-meaning citizens like you and me, these are good things. There is only one problem: these promises cannot be kept. A $15/hour minimum wage will hurt its beneficiaries more than it will help them.

Full disclosure: my wife and I own a profitable, single-location restaurant with about 30 employees, and so you might think we are biased against a $15/hour minimum wage on principle. If you think that, you are wrong. We sincerely care about our team. We want them to thrive. Our full-time servers earn $50k-$60k annually after tips. The kitchen earns between $10-12 per hour, but overtime allows most to earn about $40k per year. These are not exploitative wages.

As proposed and without other business adjustments, annual income for our servers will jump to about $60k-$75k, and the kitchen will see about $55k. As business owners, we would support a $15/hour minimum wage if it did not hurt the team or put the business at risk. Unfortunately though, there is just not enough money in our business to afford the increase in labor costs. In order to keep the business open and our staff employed, we will be forced to adapt in ways that will ultimately hurt our team. Here are the changes that a $15/hour minimum wage would force upon our business:

Overtime will be prohibited.

$22.50 for overtime will just be unaffordable.  With 12 hours of operation daily, most full-time employees will only be permitted three 12-hour days per week. Employees will make more per hour but will make about 20% less per week. To avoid an income reduction, they will probably take a second job, if they can even find one. They will be challenged to juggle the scheduling demands of two employers, and they will lose valuable time commuting between jobs.

We will hire more (mostly part-time) employees.

Assuming the economy does not falter, we will need to cover the lost overtime labor. Part-time employees will afford us more flexibility to cover peak hours and to avoid overtime risks. Fewer full-time positions will be available for those who want them.

We will move to a tip-included pricing model.

Dining room employees already earn more than our kitchen team, and the current proposal will make it worse. To fix this, we will increase our menu prices to include tips. Customers will then be discouraged from tipping further. Servers will receive a wage above the $15/hour minimum but less than the $25-$35/hour they make now. The difference will be redirected to back-of-house labor costs. Servers will lose all rewards they receive for outstanding service.

We will aggressively cut hours during slow shifts.

Today, server income varies according to sales, and we have enough profit to play it safe by not sending our team home too early. After these changes, though, we will be forced to cut shifts earlier and more often, putting further income pressure on employees who will already be earning less.

We will increase prices even further.

Our modeling indicates the above measures will hold back about half of the cost increases. The remaining costs are more than our entire profit. So we will need to raise prices further. Unfortunately, customer visits may just decline proportionally, resulting in lower sales and a shrinking labor force.

We will delay opening new locations.

We are currently searching for our second location, but the uncertainty of how successful we will adapt to the new business environment of a $15/hour minimum wage gives us pause. We cannot contribute to a growing economy if we are not certain we can make money.

Admittedly, this entire commentary is an anecdote of a single business, but I assure you our business is not unique. Thousands of others look just like us, and we are all going to face the hard choices I have outlined here if a $15/hour minimum wage happens.

If you still want a $15/hour minimum wage, the truth is, the sky will not fall. Demand for good food will survive this change, and those restaurants with a good head for business will find a way to adapt and survive, and so will the employees. The question is, though, will it be worth the trade-offs?

This op-ed was written by FRLA Northeast Chapter member Jeffrey Schofield, who is the Founder, Owner and Operator of Blue Orchid Thai Cuisine in Jacksonville. It appeared on Florida Politics and in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

For more information about the proposed $15 minimum wage and FRLA’s position on how this will impact the hospitality industry in Florida, please visit our Minimum Wage page.