Chicago pizza place: Not enough staff to open on Sunday, in spite of $18 to $21 per hour wage
CHICAGO - A Chicago pizza place fueled a firestorm on social media with complaints that there were not enough workers to open.
Coalfire Chicago, which has locations in West Town and Lake View, tweeted on Sunday: "We are closed today. I simply do not have enough people to open. In nearly 15 years of selling pizza, this has never happened. I am sorry for any inconvenience this causes anyone. I look forward to being back open on Tuesday. Thank you for your support."
A lot of commenters wanted to know how much Coalfire Chicago paid. The person handling the twitter account responded: "My cooks average $18-$21 hour, plus paid days off. I also pay overtime. I have a BCBS health/dental plan available. My employees may eat/drink anything they want on any given day. I cover sick days, you name it, I probably do it."
Chicago's minimum wage is $15/hour. Working full-time at $18/hour would earn you $720/week before taxes.
One commenter noted that Amazon is paying more: "You’re competing against Amazon offering $22.50 an hour plus a $3K signing bonus," they wrote.
Another simply said: "Pay your workers more?"