Screwed: Food & Beverage Workers

"Legally, tips should cover the difference between that and the federal minimum wage, now a whopping $7.25. If they don't, employers are obligated to make up the difference. But that doesn't always happen, leaving millions of servers — 70 percent of whom are women — taking home far less than the minimum wage. Which brings us to the happily almost-forgotten Herman Cain. What's called the "tipped minimum wage" — that $2.13 — once increased in proportion to the regular minimum wage. But in 1996, the year Cain took over as head of the National Restaurant Association (NRA), he struck a deal with President Bill Clinton and his fellow Democrats. In exchange for an increase in the regular minimum wage, the tipped minimum wage was de-coupled. The result: despite regular increases in the regular minimum wage, the tipped minimum wage hasn't changed since 1991...".* Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks.

*Read more from MARK BITTMAN at NYTimes.com: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/...

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• Category

  News & Politics

[Ryan Notyourbusiness]

$18k? I'm lucky to make half that. And food and school and gas and insurance are expensive.

[freakylocz14]

We shouldn't tax tips. I believe that we shouldn't tax income at all, but if we must, tips shouldn't be taxed.

[TheTwister821]

only "chain's" like Pizza Hut are required to make up the diff ..in my area the privately owned truck stop only pays $2.63 p/h which turns out to be a waste of time, when u end taking home $18 in tips for the eve..

[IAMHEATHLEDGERZ]

Because this DOESN'T just apply to college students working part time. Plenty of people work full time as waiters and waitresses to support themselves and their families. Just because the restaurants in your area are staffed entirely by college students doesn't mean that's the norm nationwide.

[GoldenEyedBlackCat]

I remember working at several different restaurants as a young person (including Perkins) making a little over $2/hour and now I wonder how I ever agreed to work for that amount. It was especially lovely how I'd be working during bar rush and the drunks would come in and have just enough money left for food, behave obnoxiously, and leave tiny or no tips. Being a food server sucks...

[aj19bcx]

why are people worried about the annual salery of a part time job that college students do in their free time, it's not like they do it for a living

[showworldentertainme]

Just think?

[HeedAndSucceed]

Doesn't mean I am going to tip. They can fuck off. You can fuck off too.