This post was written by Rahul Saksena, ROC-NY Policy Director.
Tipped restaurant workers in New York – the vast majority of whom are women – face high rates of economic insecurity. A new study conducted by the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) found that 41% of New York City’s restaurant workers faced food insecurity at home, and that tipped restaurant workers were 30% more likely to be food insecure. (Stay tuned for the full report, which will be released later this month!).
Why is it that those responsible for serving New York’s meals can’t afford to feed themselves? A primary reason is that tipped restaurant workers earn a sub-minimum wage of just $5 per hour. And while New York’s minimum wage increases over the next few years, tipped restaurant workers’ wages will remain frozen at $5 due to a last-minute compromise made by Governor Cuomo in the 2013 legislative session.
Governor Cuomo has the opportunity to raise tipped workers’ wages through a Department of Labor Wage Board.
Show your support for tipped restaurant workers. We invite you to:
1) Call on Governor Cuomo to convene the Wage Board without further delay. Call Gov. Cuomo at 518-474-8390.
2) If you were once a tipped restaurant worker, contribute your story describing what it was like to live off tips. Your story will become part of ROC-NY’s story bank and will be disseminated through traditional and social media.
3) Support tipped restaurant workers on social media. On Twitter, use #LivingOffTipsNY and @ROC_NY in your tweets. Here’s an easy example:
#NY’s tipped restaurant workers deserve a raise! I join @ROC_NY in urging @NYGovCuomo to convene the Wage Board! #LivingOffTipsNY
4) Commit to submitting Wage Board testimony in favor of eliminating the sub-minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers.
5) Help make the case for raising the tipped minimum wage by publicizing ROC-NY’s report on food insecurity among New York City restaurant workers. The full report will be released in mid-June.
Please contact ROC-NY Policy Director Rahul Saksena atRahul@rocny.org or 212-343-1771 for more information or to commit your support for any of the above options.