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Buried in Democrats’ “relief” bill is a poison pill for restaurants and their servers already struggling thanks to the pandemic and lockdowns: an end to the tipped minimum wage.
As it works now, eateries can pay servers about $5 an hour less than the regular minimum wage, because they earn more than that in their tips. If they don’t, the boss is legally obliged to make up the difference, so it’s a no-lose provision for workers — who generally make far more than minimum as a result.
It’s only become controversial in recent years because tipping makes it near-impossible to unionize restaurants, or at least to collect much in union dues.
But servers like it that way: When Sarah Jessica Parker was hosting a gala to promote killing the tipped-minimum in New York, she had to keep the location a secret to keep hundreds of protesters away. Oh, and the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network opposed the change, too, with NAN’s Rev. Kirsten John Foy noting, “It will be devastating for communities of color, where neighborhood restaurants provide good jobs to a lot of good people, and they make much more than $15 an hour typically.”
Democrats pretend ending tips, and imposing a national $15 minimum wage, will help low-end workers. In fact, it will kill a ton of jobs, especially in low-cost-of-living areas.
Above all, there’s no way this belongs in a pandemic-relief bill: This favor to a special interest is the opposite of relief.
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