Male servers at a Canadian restaurant and bar wore high heels and mini-skirts last Wednesday to show “solidarity” for their female counterparts who have been indoctrinated into thinking that the required uniform at certain establishments are sexist.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission recently released a report highlighting alleged gender inequality in some workplace dress codes, adding that male and female servers should have an “equal choice to wear whatever they want." The report inspired the male staff at the Union Local 613 restaurant and bar on Ottawa to "break on through the other side" and wear the women's attire required for female employees at some establishments.
Here’s the real question, coming from a person who has worked in the service industry for over 10 years: If you think the attire that you are required to wear at a serving job is sexist, why work there in the first place? And when did the employees become the bosses?
“When we’re going out and we’re organizing workers, they know that if they step up and they say something against a policy or against the management’s unfair tactics, that they’re going to be disciplined or terminated," said national coordinator for strategic campaigns with the United Food and Commercial Workers union Debora De Angelis.
Ding, ding, ding! So this is not really about sexist policies for De Angeles, but instead an effort to force Canadians further into socialism by getting them to join unions. Got it!
This comes down to choices. You either choose to work at a place that enforces a certain dress code, or you can choose to work somewhere else where the dress code is less “sexist.”
Apparently, the Ontario Human Rights Code states women now have the option of wearing either a skirt or pants, depending on the employees’ preference.
According to the Ontario Citizen, the OHRC's report “prompted Ontario Women’s Issues Minister Tracy MacCharles to say female employees should feel empowered to speak up and voice complaints if they have concerns about their dress code.”
While females should definitely feel empowered in their jobs and be able to voice their grievances, that empowerment should not entail telling the owner of an establishment how to run their business.
I have had to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over the years to adhere to whichever business’s dress code I am working for. Not once have I thought, “Why can’t I wear what I want to wear?”
Maybe because I didn’t own the restaurant.
Here is the CBC News video, posted on their Facebook page, of the Union Local 613 cross-dressing event: