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.

Tell the Department of Labor that it's about time that tipped employees received a raise.