Demand a Federal Minimum Wage Increase for Tipped Employees

Tipped Employees Deserve a Raise

Greetings,

I was disheartened to learn that even though the federal minimum wage has increased several times in recent years, the minimum wage for wait staff and other tipped employees has been $2.13 per hour since 1991.

The justification for paying workers just $2.13 an hour, according to the Department of Labor, is that they will make up the difference between their base pay and $7.25, the current federal minimum wage, through tips. Try telling that to a bored wait staff in an empty restaurant on a Wednesday afternoon.

Employment in food services has been growing at a much faster rate than employment in general and the restaurant industry has continued hiring despite the recession. Unfortunately, the national median wage for America's 13 million restaurant workers is just $8.59 including tips -- not enough to raise a family on. Waiters and waitresses are three times more likely to live below the poverty line than workers in general.

It's about time that tipped employees received a raise. Please consider raising the federal minimum wage for tipped employees and shrinking the "tip credit" that puts them at a disadvantage.

[Your name]