Male servers at Ottawa restaurant don skirts and high heels in solidarity with female co-workers

Waiters in women’s clothing. That’s how one Ottawa restaurant recently made a statement about unequal expectations over how female servers are often expected to dress on the job. Ivan Gedz and Matt Fantin are the co-owners of Union Local 613 Restaurant and Bar, a small place that specializes in southern-inspired cuisine. On March 9, they and two other male servers wore short skirts and high heels during the evening shift at the decidedly progressive Somerset Street West eatery.

The move was meant as a response to what Gedz calls the lack of response by Restaurants Canada, the national organization of independent restaurant owners, to female servers being expected to wear sexually revealing clothing at work as a way of arousing (especially male) customer interest. On March 8, International Women’s Day, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (a quasi-judicial agency that oversees civil rights in the province) released a report reminding the restaurant industry to ensure staff dress codes don’t enforce sexist stereotypes.

The only reaction so far from Restaurants Canada has been a statement saying that sexist stereotypes in the restaurant business are no worse than in any other. Investigative journalists from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) TV consumer affairs show Marketplace recently discovered though that not only are sexist dress codes in place at many independent restaurants, but also at many of Canada’s biggest chain locations like Jack Astor’s, Red Lobster, and Boston Pizza. Women who have worked at those chains reported being sent home for not wearing clothing that was “sexy,” sufficient makeup or jewelry, or their hair not styled right.

Ivan Gedz said restaurant staff should have a choice when it comes to what to wear to work, and that the rules for all genders should be applied equally. “It’s a human rights issue,” he said, adding it should be good food—not sex, that sells in the restaurant business.

Reaction to the unconventional show of solidarity at Union Local 613 was mixed. Gedz said that the guys received a lot of support for what they were doing, but that even well-intended jokes and gropes from customers became annoying, giving him and the others an idea of what similarly dressed female servers encounter on the job. Social media was the source of the most negative reactions, including accusations that they were shaming women who choose to dress a certain way, or objectifying stereotypes even further. However, Gedz said feminist customers were extremely supportive and even emotionally overwhelmed by what he and the others did and the point they attempted to make. He added that they got a good sense of how difficult it is to work and walk in high heels, too.

Gedz regrets that in the age of constant media bombardment and the 24 hour news cycle, a stunt like male servers wearing skirts, dresses and heels had to even be used to get public attention over a serious issue like how some women are expected to dress for work in restaurants. However, the effort has brought the issue to national attention. Gedz even recently wrote an editorial piece on the matter for the nationally-distributed Globe and Mail newspaper.

Union Local 613 though, along with its owners and general ethos are hardly typical of the restaurant business. The attempt to raise awareness and show support for women is hardly surprising. The name of the establishment itself indicates a strong support for working people (the number 613 is the eastern Ontario telephone area code). “We wanted to do business a different way,” Ivan Gedz says, noting the restaurant is not a union shop but he has no objections to workers organizing. Gedz and Fantin provide their staff with health insurance and would one day like to offer a pension plan—both rare benefits in the restaurant business. Standing in solidarity, even in high heels and a mini skirt, is just part of how business is done at Union Local 613.