Restaurants that refused to close indoor restaurants in defiance of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s COVID-19 public order were presented with unemployment assistance through the New Mexico Department of Labor Solutions, which cited “dangerous” operating situations as restaurants continued to operate.
Nine restaurants across New Mexico were indexed in Monday’s announcement that it showed unemployment to staff who left due to security concerns related to the pandemic.
On July 13, Lujan Grisham ordered all restaurants in New Mexico to close indoor restaurants to slow the spread of the coronavirus, allowing seats on the deck to be presented to a capacity of 50%.
Several restaurants protested against the order, and some remained open in opposition, which suspended their food service licenses through the New Mexico Department of the Environment (NMED).
MORE: New Mexico restaurants defy Governor Lujan Grisham’s order amid COVID-19
In Carlsbad, Trinity Hotel and Restaurant and two Pizza Inn restaurants defied order, and staff showed up across the state.
At Hobbs, the 3rd Pizza Inn and Casey’s showed up unemployed, as well as two Restaurants Los Hermanitos and TJ’s Diner in Farmington.
Country Family Restaurant in Kirtland also introduced unemployment benefits to staff, as it continued to operate despite state mandates.
Support journalism. Subscribe to Carlsbad Current-Argus.
Bill McCamley, cabinet secretary of the Department of Labor Solutions, said the resolution of increasing unemployment benefits aims to protect staff and the public.
“This is retaliation. It’s about protecting the protection of new Mexicans,” he said. “Knowledge shows that indoor foods are the main cause of coronavirus spread.”
MORE: Carlsbad restaurants protest against state-demanded COVID-19 closures, open for indoor dining
McCamley said the state used knowledge of a JP Morgan exam that showed that in-person restaurant spending was a smart predictor of long-term COVID-19 infection, as well as NMED’s knowledge that staff appeared to be inflamed with the virus at a rate higher than other sectors.
On July 14, NMED reported that 15% of all of its immediate responses to COVID-19 infection referred to employees at places to eat, and McCamley said this rate will likely be higher in the following weeks.
“Governor Lujan Grisham makes those decisions on the basis of knowledge and protects new Mexicans,” he said. “If employers need to put staff in a harmful scenario where there is a possibility that they will get hurt, there is a problem.”
MORE: Supreme Court Authority of New Mexico restaurants in battle for COVID-19 closure
As a general rule, a worker will have to prove a smart cause to be approved for unemployment after a resignation, McCamley said, and his department’s resolution would create a general approval for staff citing COVID-19-related fitness disorders at the nine restaurants that violated the fitness ordinance.
“It was our resolve to offer staff an alternative,” he said. “When they paint indoors, in a place to eat, they face a greater threat of exposure (to the virus).”
But the nine restaurants classified as offenders were a “small minority,” McCamley said, as most restaurants in New Mexico used existing or newly created yard seats to serve consumers during the pandemic.
MORE: New Mexico takes action against the opening of restaurants in Carlsbad despite the COVID-19 fitness order
“We need to congratulate employers who have discovered artistic tactics to open up,” he said. “Most corporations place tactics on their staff and the general public. Unfortunately, we have a small minority that violates aptitude orders and endangers their staff and the public when they are not forced to do so.”
But Janie Balzano, owner of Trinity Hotel and Restaurant, said staying open is mandatory to protect her business from closure and therefore the jobs of her workers.
MORE: Carlsbad leaders call for repeal of New Mexico’s new COVID-19 fitness ordinance
“Our workers are through our looks and pray for us,” Balzano said. “But it weighs on people. They don’t know what’s going to go on. I think the industry in general is holding its breath.”
Since Trinity’s license was suspended on 13 July, Balzano has stated that it has not won any official state touches.
Meanwhile, the restaurant business exploded, he said, with network forts and visitors from as far away as Lubbock, Texas and Edgewood in northern New Mexico.
MORE: Demonstrators gather at Carlsbad Pizza Inn and oppose the closure of places to eat in New Mexico at COVID-19
“He’s been very busy. We still have other people from all sorts of places,” Balzano said. “It’s pretty amazing.
If restaurants were forced to close, Balzano pointed to many other spaces that could be affected, from structured corporations to nannies.
He said he hoped the governor would consult with restaurants to find a compromise that favored the public and economic fitness of the state and local communities.
MORE: Carlsbad reopens amid COVID-19 pandemic
“It’s just the restaurants that are closing. That’s all it entails,” Balzano said. “I just wish we could have an open verbal exchange with the governor so we can continue to bring cash to the state.”
Pizza Inn owner Michael Moore said none of the 90 workers in its 3 locations had expressed a preference for quitting amid the pandemic.
He said he had hired four new workers at Hobbs Restaurant to meet the highest turnover.
MORE: New Mexico restaurants prepare to reopen on June 1 and adapt to COVID-19 fitness measures
Operations at the 3 restaurants remained safe, Moore said, as he made sure they followed the above rules, issued when restaurants can reopen on June 1, that all staff dressed in a protective mask sit with consumers six feet aside and frequently disinfect high. contact areas.
“Our sales have increased significantly,” he said. “It’s going pretty well. We’ve spent thousands of dollars, almost everything we had to comply with state fitness orders, and we’ll continue to do so. We will take it day after day and continue to do so in the safest way possible. “
As for the job offer, Moore said he saw it as a punitive state action to resign.
“I don’t think it was made as a friendly gesture. They’re not looking to help,” he said. “With employees, we don’t force anyone to work, but they’ve all continued to do so.”
Adrian Hedden can be contacted at 575-628-5516, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.