It is, honestly, a fucking terrible idea - I understand that servers are struggling but this is the worst way to fix it.
What’s the better way to fix it?
If you are serious… Pay them a regular living wage… Remove the whole caveat that waiting staff is somehow different from any other job.
I would be concerned about having wait staff and other tipped positions be paid a livable minimum wage because it may cause people to stop tipping, which would result in a pay cut. There wouldn’t be the argument “They don’t even make minimum, I need to tip them.”, it would become “They make 22.50 an hour, I don’t need to tip them.”
When I worked as a delivery driver, I did well only because of tips. If I was paid minimum wage and people stopped tipping, I would have been fucked.
If they get paid a livable minimum and tips are still just as generous, that would be a huge win for people that could use it.
So you want us to pay them the same as everyone else, but also give them more money as well?
“This is your brain on
drugstips.”But seriously: If a federal livable wage ($20+, adjusted regularly) killed tipping, what a relief that would be to most people. Tipping should return to being an unexpected surprise for truly exceptional service.
If a job needs doing. It needs a living wage to be paid for.
No matter how much Wall St wishes it so, we are not slaves. If you want the work done, fucking pay for it. Or go out of business.
I’ll say this again for the mouth breathing politicians in the back.
Stop making the minimum wage a flat value; base it off of a calculation that’s recalculated quarterly, calibrated to account for inflation, poverty levels, and cost of living on a per-County basis. Then make sure that nobody fucks with the equation.
B- b- b- then they want be able to use the promise of increases to gain political favor!
