AOC will be waiting tables once again. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is returning to her restaurant roots this week to show sup...
AOC will be waiting tables once again.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is returning to her restaurant roots this week to show support for the federal Raise the Wage Act and abolishing below-minimum wage for tipped workers in the Empire State.
The Bronx-born freshman congresswoman plans to pour a few pints and take a few orders at a restaurant in her district on Friday at an event organized by Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United, the Daily News has learned. The exact location will be revealed later in the week.
“We’re very grateful for our partnership with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who fully understands the struggles of these workers,” ROC co-founder and president Saru Jayaraman told The News. “As a former tipped worker, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez can shed light on the importance of One Fair Wage to lift up these workers and their families."
New York is one of 43 states that allow waiters, bartenders, nail salon workers, car wash employees and other select laborers to be paid a lower minimum wage as long as they earn at least the full minimum wage after tips.
ROC and others have been petitioning Gov. Cuomo and lawmakers to mandate One Fair Wage, which would institute a full minimum wage for workers who earn tips. Advocates argue the change would combat wage theft, even the economic playing field for a group that is predominantly made up of women and people of color, and make waitresses less vulnerable to sexual harassment.
Given her résumè, Ocasio-Cortez’s advocacy on behalf of the group makes more sense than splitting a $20 bar tab four ways.
Prior to unseating 10-term Congressman Joe Crowley, the Democrat worked at Flats Fix, a Mexican bar-restaurant near Union Square. During her campaign, Ocasio-Cortez frequently spoke about her time in the service industry and the struggles tipped workers often face.
In the city, the standard minimum wage is now $15 an hour, and the tipped wage is $10. That’s substantially more than the federal tipped wage, which has been $2.13 an hour for nearly 30 years. The standard hourly federal minimum wage is $7.25.
The federal Raise the Wage Act would double the federal minimum wage by 2024.
“Restaurant workers in New York and across the country have been mobilizing over the last two years to demand that One Fair Wage will be passed in New York and the Raise the Wage Act in Congress,” Jayaraman said. “It’s time for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to listen to the voice of the majority of restaurant, nail salon and car wash workers."
Last year, Cuomo asked the Labor Department to study the effect of raising the wage for tipped workers. A representative for the governor noted that New York has raised the minimum wage across the board under Cuomo, including for tipped workers, and that department is still reviewing the issue.
“The Department is the only regulatory agency legally permitted to review this issue and they are currently in the review process,” Cuomo spokeswoman Caitlin Girouard said.
Opponents believe the change will have a disastrous impact on restaurants, forcing owners to jack up food prices and cut staff.
Ocasio-Cortez, ROC and others say the struggle goes well beyond those waiting tables for a living. The congresswoman’s district, which covers parts of the Bronx and Queens, has one of the highest concentrations of nail salons in the country, which are predominantly staffed by immigrant women, according to ROC.
“When we think of tipped workers, we usually think of some restaurant workers,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted last summer to her four million followers. “But tipped workers are far more than that: they are nail salons, car wash techs, and more.
“These are all some of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy, built on labor with precarious pay, damaging work conditions, and notoriously endures abuse and sexual harassment as a result,” she added.
BTW AOC, these jobs are entry level jobs, for kids just joining the work force with little or no skills.
ReplyDeletePush those hourly wages up, and the price of a cup of coffee has to go up. If it gets too high, customers vanish, the business vanishes, and the jobs go with them.
She want's to insure a good hourly wage for when she returns to bar tending after they vote her silly ass out
ReplyDeleteHere I thought the headline said she was returning as a bartender!!! I can dream, can't I? How soon can we get this turd and the other two turds out of Congress? You know the idiot who married her brother and the other idiot who thinks she's god or something?
ReplyDeletehttps://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f0a05174eec3e505e65d9d5aaa2d3158e1dc315c32de6440c09a26caaff9a402.jpg
Should really be the 3 diseases...... I have a sure fire cure for them.... send them the hell home!!! where they can practice their "fun" on their fellow illiterates.
It incentivizes people like my 16 year old to get a real job.
ReplyDeleteShe won't be welcomed by existing staff since it's well known now that she doesn't tip-out equitably.
ReplyDeleteThe premise behind tipped employees is they EARN a portion of their income by providing good service. If they were to be paid strictly by the hour whether they were friendly or surly, the quality of service would fall through the floor. I worked in a bar where I know that one of the bartenders was making great sums of money. Seniority and competence got him register one, the best station at the bar and the best nights. He still had to work a few of the slower shifts, but Th-Fr-Sat, he made bank. John was great to the bar backs when it came to tipping out and very personable as well. I know another bartender that worked many years up to being the lead at a swank restaurant. Coming home with $300-$400 in cash from tips was not unusual. Private parties often led to over $500 in tips for the night. I'd be happy with minimum wage as my "official" pay in a situation like that.
The world is ending in 12 years. Who cares.
ReplyDeleteYou peeked again?
ReplyDeleteEntry level ? My wife has been a bartender for around 20 years ..Are you saying she has no skills ? Go to hell, half-wit.
ReplyDeleteQuit stealing the TIPS, Bitch.
ReplyDeleteCertainly not! I tip heavily when I have the pleasure of a skilled bartender or waitress/waiter, as they can make the whole experience worthwhile, or conversely can ruin the whole deal if they are poor. I did it a bit years ago and understand how difficult it is.
ReplyDeleteI am speaking of the true entry level jobs, like fast food, and coffee shops, dish washers and such, jobs for kids with zero experience or skills. These are stepping stones to better positions, to a career, where the pay structure becomes commensurate with the value to the employer.
If the employer is forced to pay beyond the value of the worker, they have to raise prices to the consumer. And in many cases, the employer has to either do without that position, or close the doors, and bye-bye entry level jobs.
Government can not set prices, government is a mindless meddler that always upsets the natural flow of capitalism, wreaking unintended consequences with every edict.
Sorry ...
ReplyDeleteNP I get it ; )
ReplyDelete