To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Congress: Stop the minimum wage freeze on tipped workers
Federal and state minimum wages are supposed to protect workers from poverty -- that's why when the cost of living increases, the minimum wage is raised. But because of a deal lobbyists made with Congress decades ago, the minimum wage for waitresses and other workers who are tipped is still frozen at only $2.13 an hour. As a result, restaurant servers have 3 times the poverty rate of the rest of the US workforce. More than 70% of servers are women, and many are single mothers.
This needs to stop. In any plan to raise the minimum wage, we demand a promise not to cut out a huge portion of your constituents: tipped workers.
This needs to stop. In any plan to raise the minimum wage, we demand a promise not to cut out a huge portion of your constituents: tipped workers.
Why is this important?
Federal and state minimum wages are supposed to protect workers from poverty -- that's why when the cost of living increases, the minimum wage is raised. We raised it in 1991, in 2009, and President Obama has proposed another increase to help the thousands of families whose minimum wage incomes aren't enough to pay for food and shelter.
But because of a deal lobbyists made with Congress decades ago, the minimum wage for waitresses and other workers who are tipped is still frozen at only $2.13 an hour. As a result, restaurant servers have 3 times the poverty rate of the rest of the US workforce. More than 70% of servers are women, and many are single mothers.
This needs to stop. In any plan to raise the minimum wage, we demand a promise not to cut out tipped workers.
But because of a deal lobbyists made with Congress decades ago, the minimum wage for waitresses and other workers who are tipped is still frozen at only $2.13 an hour. As a result, restaurant servers have 3 times the poverty rate of the rest of the US workforce. More than 70% of servers are women, and many are single mothers.
This needs to stop. In any plan to raise the minimum wage, we demand a promise not to cut out tipped workers.