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Dear John,
$2.13. Two dollars and 13 cents. Millions of American workers earn just this much an hour, plus tips.
While many may think tipping for services has gotten out of control lately, arguing over who deserves a tip and how much they should get distracts from what we should really be angry about: business models that depend on not paying workers a living wage.
The subminimum wage is trapping workers in poverty. Let’s get rid of it.
In this week’s video, I’m pleased to introduce my guest, Saru Jayaraman of One Fair Wage, a leading advocate of abolishing the subminimum wage. Check out the video here and share it with friends and family, so we can all work to eliminate the subminimum wage.
Even worse than the federal subminimum wage being a measly $2.13 an hour is the fact that it hasn’t been raised since 1991. Yes you read that correctly.
Meanwhile, major U.S. CEOs are now paid 344 times more than their typical employees. Hello?
But there are numerous other issues with the subminimum wage. Workers in industries that rely heavily on tips are more likely to experience wage theft and deal with sexual harassment from both customers and bosses. And as you’ll learn from our video, the very concept of tipping in America became prevalent following the Civil War as a racist solution by employers who didn’t want to pay formerly enslaved Black workers.
The good news is that a growing list of cities and states have eliminated their subminimum wages in recent years -- and workers are seeing their take home pay consistently rise. Increasing wages has also been good for businesses in those cities and states -- with more restaurants opening up, more servers being hired, and less employee turnover.
Watch the video here to learn more about why ending the subminimum wage is better for workers, better for business, and better for our economy.
And a tip of the hat to you for keeping in mind servers and all other tipped workers!
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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