The subminimum wage
for tipped workers is a
legacy of slavery.
The federal sub-minimum wage for restaurant workers is $2.13 an hour. And 43 states have a sub-minimum wage, 38 of which are $5.00 or less.
The two-tiered wage system in the restaurant industry harkens back to the Jim Crow era, when white restaurant owners refused to pay newly freed Black workers, and instead designed a rigged system for them to survive off of tips alone.
And now they’re being forced back to work, without adequate safety protocols, in the midst of an economic crisis where
tips are down 75-90% nationwide. What was unacceptable before is now impossible.
Before coronavirus, tips were supposed to make up the difference, but rarely did. In fact the restaurant workers who put food on our tables rely on food stamps at twice the rate of workers in other industries in order to feed their own families.
Most of these workers are women of color and studies show that customers tip people of color less than white servers. That means the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers turns customer bias into industry policy. Plus women earning the sub-minimum tipped wage are subject to twice the rate of sexual harassment as women in states with One Fair Wage.
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Elena the Essential Service Worker is the granddaughter of Rosie the Riveter and a symbol for all of us in this moment.
As a tipped worker, Elena is still paid a subminimum wage — a legacy of slavery that needs to end! Tipped workers should not have to enforce social distancing and mask rules with the same customers from whom they have to get tips to survive. We need One Fair Wage — a full minimum wage with tips on top — for all workers now.
In addition to trying to make ends meet while enforcing public health guidelines, Elena and essential workers are leading the fight for our democracy — we are not only essential workers, we are essential voters and essential Americans.
Pay every Elena a full, fair wage. Count our votes. Hear our voices. Elenas are the future. Without us, our economy and our democracy is broken.
We demand respect, full pay, and fair elections!
#ElenaTheEssential is a join project of One Fair Wage, One Billion Rising and artist Paul Leibow
LEARN MORE.
Some history and context to help inform yourself and others.
