• OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip
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    2 months ago

    MA had a ballot initiative that would have gradually brought the minimum tipped wage in line with the state’s minimum wage over the next 5 years or something.

    Restaurants posted signs at their door to vote NO and that 90 percent of tipped workers opposed the bill.

    A bartender I know told me that I should vote no because if it passed then restaurants would have to reduce headcount and servers who were bad at their jobs would get paid just as well as servers that offer good service.

    So it seems like the restaurants just threatened people with losing their jobs and so they voted NO and convinced others to do the same.

    The measure didn’t pass.

    • Dragonstaff@leminal.space
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      2 months ago

      I waited tables for years. (I was good at it, and even helped train everyone at a new restaurant.) Hourly pay would have definitely lowered my wage, but it’s still better than tipping. It’d be cool to get hourly wage, or even commission, so that your pay isn’t based on people’s whims.

      servers who were bad at their jobs would get paid just as well as servers that offer good service.

      (Note: I use the general “you” a lot. You’re just repeating what someone else said, I assume you don’t have any wait staff working for you personally.) You can fire people for being bad at their jobs. Why do you have bad staff working for you, tips or no? How about: Unattractive people will get paid just as well as traditionally attractive people. Minorities will get paid just as well as whites. Your salary doesn’t hinge on whether you can sneak extra stuff to your tables without your boss finding out or putting up with sexual harassment. Salary means that my paycheck comes from the restaurant and I don’t have to try to balance the interests of the people paying me against the restaurant.

    • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yeah all of that is what is known in the business as propaganda. The more money you have the more propaganda you can put out and restaurant businesses have a lot of spare money because they don’t pay their workers shit.

    • HowManyNimons@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      servers who were bad at their jobs would get paid just as well as servers that offer good service.

      Black servers would be paid as well as white servers, servers whose chefs fucked up would be paid as well as lucky servers, mice would chase cats and the world would turn inside out!

      • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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        2 months ago

        yes and if you think this comment is off base, question your privelage and motives because you are empirically incorrect!

        This study examined the effects of server race, customer race, and their interaction on restaurant tips while statistically controlling for customers’ perceptions of service quality and other variables. The findings indicate that consumers of both races discriminated against Black service providers by tipping them less than White service providers. Journal of Applied Psychology 2008

    • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Reminds me of when I worked at Wal-Mart and everyone was horrified at the idea of getting raises because it meant prices would go up…