Effective August 3, 2025—just six days after informing employees—AppleGreen implemented a new tip pooling system that effectively cuts our guaranteed hourly pay by $3. While the company frames this as a fair and beneficial policy, it’s anything but.

Under the new system, employees are now expected to earn $3 per hour in tips just to break even and reach our previous wage of $14/hour. That means each shift must generate at least $24 in tips per worker, just to maintain what we were previously guaranteed. These customer tips—intended as a reward for good service—are now being used to subsidize our base pay, reducing both our hourly wage and the tips we take home.

Previously, employees earned $14/hour plus evenly split cash tips. Now, our base pay is just $11/hour, and we're told that we’ll “make it up in tips.” But in reality, AppleGreen is pocketing that $3/hour difference—$24 per 8-hour shift per employee—money that used to go directly to workers. It’s a pay cut disguised as a policy change, and it’s fundamentally dishonest. Customers are unknowingly filling the wage gap, while workers are left with scraps.

To see any tips beyond breaking even, a three-person team must bring in over $72 in tips per shift—a target that’s unrealistic for many shifts. Anything under that? We see none of the tips customers intended for us.

To make matters worse, credit card tips—which were withheld from employees for years—are only now being returned as part of this same policy change. That’s not a gift; it’s long-overdue compensation.

Meanwhile, AppleGreen continues to upcharge customers, especially at travel plaza locations. Items like a Starbucks Venti Latte cost significantly more at AppleGreen-run stores compared to nearby corporate locations. For example, at the North Midway Travel Plaza in Bedford, PA, a Venti Latte costs $7.05. After the card machine prompts for a 20% tip, the total comes to $8.46. Just 30 miles away at a corporate-owned Starbucks, the same drink is $5.75—and their workers earn $16/hour plus raises.

So customers are paying more, and workers are earning less—for the same products and the same labor.

This policy is insulting, unsustainable, and unacceptable. It steals from both workers and customers while benefiting a company that made nearly $1 billion in gross profit in 2024.

We, the workers, deserve a livable wage—well above $11/hour—and full access to the tips we earn. We do the essential, demanding work that keeps this company running, and we refuse to be shortchanged through corporate loopholes.

We’re calling on AppleGreen to do better—because we deserve better.

We demand:

A starting wage of $16/hour, matching corporate store standards.
All cash and credit card tips, split evenly and transparently among workers, on top of hourly pay, not used to subsidize it.
A fair, consistent raise policy that rewards hard work, long-term commitment, and employee excellence.
We’re not asking for luxuries—we’re asking for respect, dignity, and a living wage.

Stand with us. Sign the petition to demand justice for AppleGreen workers. Your signature is your voice—and together, our voices are impossible to ignore.