Fast Food, Fair Wages

February 21, 2018 10:25 AM

“The systemic poverty and racism America faces today was not inevitable,” the statement continues. “It is the result of choices made by politicians and corporations.” The revival of The Poor People’s campaign on the 50th anniversary of Memphis sanitation workers’ strike seeks to combine the plight of the working poor, faith leaders, and the fight for a fair minimum wage for fast food workers. Behind the minimum wage fight, a sweeping failure to enforce the law. (Politico) Republicans silent on tip-pooling changes that woukd allow owners to pocket server’s tips. (Eater)

Related: The Twisted, Racist History of Tipping (Mother Jones)

posted by The Whelk (11 comments total)

How is tip-pooling not illegal from an "it is literally theft" angle? I, the customer, am giving a tip to my server. If the owner of the establishment distributes or pools the tips, that is stealing from my server. Not in a figurative way, but a quite literal manner.
posted by explosion at 12:04 PM on February 21, 2018 [11 favorites]

I, the customer, am giving a tip to my server.

No, you’re giving a tip for the service provided by all the staff of the restaurant, from the cooks to the busboys to the dishwashers...; the server is merely the public face of this overall service. Tip pooling usually means your tip gets split among those people.

(Owners and management should NEVER get a cut, however, as getting to cheap out on wages is its own reward.)
posted by Sys Rq at 1:14 PM on February 21, 2018 [11 favorites]

Yeah I feel conflicted about tip pooling stuff, partly because of the racialized hiring tendencies for front of house (waiters who get tips) and back of house (more likely to be undocumented). It really just points to the need for better labor laws, especially regarding minimum wages.

A revival of the Poor People's campaign is awesome. I will totally work on a shantytown protest in front of my state capital.
posted by spamandkimchi at 1:35 PM on February 21, 2018 [9 favorites]

in 18 states servers, bussers, and hosts are paid just $2.13

I bet bullies love this system. They can act like royal entitled assholes. And servility is so cheap, they can even withhold those few pennies if they're not satisfied.

I don't like the power imbalance at all, and I'm glad we don't do this in Australia. I like the idea of an indignant American bully getting kicked out of one of our restaurants for treating the staff like shit.
posted by adept256 at 2:10 PM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

Speaking of sick leave: I see sick leave for restaurant workers as not just a social justice issue, it's a public health issue. These people are handling your food! If anyone needs plenty of paid sick leave, it's restaurant workers. If you can't be altruistic, then be selfish - do you like getting the flu, or norovirus?

Anyhow, I applaud the revival of the Poor People's campaign and wish them luck and success.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 4:11 PM on February 21, 2018 [15 favorites]

The American idea of compulsory tipping is gradually making its way into Australia. Like, I sometimes order food via the food delivery service Deliveroo and it has a spot for tips for their drivers. But you'd have to do it at the time of order, which kind of obviates the point. As I understand it, it goes to the drivers only – we don't expect fast food outlet staff to depend on tips, thank goodness.

Anyway, I don't want to help give the company data that would justify them considering the tips part of their serfs' compensation, so I leave that field blank if I can scrounge together enough change to give them a bit of cash instead. They seem happy with it.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:56 PM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

What I continue to find...curious is that tipping norms and expectations are exactly the same in places with a normal minimum wage for tipped labor as they are in the places with that $2.13 minimum wage. I know there was some conflict in Seattle over tips from back-of-house and non-tipped service workers (like supermarket cashiers); I don’t know if that was ever satisfactorily addressed.
posted by mosst at 4:46 AM on February 22, 2018

This pooled tip gimmick is just a way for restaurant owners to pay workers less than the minimum wage law requirements for non-tipped labor. They are allowed to use the tips they take from servers to bring the wage up to the minimum for everyone else.
posted by JackFlash at 7:32 AM on February 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

This pooled tip gimmick is just a way for restaurant owners to pay workers less than the minimum wage law requirements for non-tipped labor. They are allowed to use the tips they take from servers to bring the wage up to the minimum for everyone else.

I seem to recall back in the 70's the IRS started with reporting tips, and if memory serves, then slippery-slope indeed.
posted by mikelieman at 7:57 AM on February 22, 2018

Tipping is a bullshit practice and everyone should be just forced to pay their staff a reasonable rate.

The American idea of compulsory tipping is gradually making its way into Australia.
I had amazing service almost everywhere I ate in Sydney (mostly sorta hipstery places in Enmore/Newtown), and tipped pretty constantly despite being assured it wasn't . . . expected.

So sorry Joe, I contributed to this.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:48 PM on February 22, 2018

As a counterpoint, I've had horrible service in the US and tipped (what I had been told was) a standard amount anyway, because what about the people in the back of the house and I had heard servers actually lose money without tips and who am I to decide to punish someone. I'd much rather have just written it off as a bad experience, of the sort that we here in Australia may enjoy every day without any moral dilemmas whatsoever.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:15 PM on February 22, 2018 [1 favorite]