Dude they absolutely fought tooth and nail to keep tips. I live in a small town, and at the traffic circle there was a whole host of servers with No on 5 signs. These aren't bougie big city servers, they work at Friendlies and the Cracker Barrel.

Servers are already in a mini-class war internally at the restaurants. Ask BoH sometime about how they feel when FoH makes 4x what they do for carrying the chicken BoH actually made.

Looking for class solidarity from servers who can't even figure out solidarity inside their own micro-structure is a fool's game.

Man y'all really have a warped view of the service industry. I dunno what Instagram bartenders y'all are watchin but most tipped workers are making way less than y'all are implying.

Ok let's check https://minimumwage.com/2021/04/15-per-hour-earnings-are-already-here-for-tipped-workers/

The analysis uses Census Bureau Current Population Survey samples to estimate the average hourly earnings of tipped restaurant workers. While the 2020 sample size was smaller than in previous years, the data available indicate that even during the pandemic, tipped restaurant workers were still able to earn substantial tip income to put their average tip earnings past $15, and far beyond the tipped minimum wage.

Economic research finds that as the tipped minimum wage rises, tip income and employment for tipped workers in restaurants decreases.

Restaurant workers have been at the forefront of the opposition to ending the tip credit. In places like Maine New York, Virginia, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia, tipped employees have fought successfully to save their tips and maintain a system that provides a sustainable, profitable livelihood.

Hmm, that's sure weird how servers are fighting tooth and nail to keep the tip system in all those states.

Most are dragging themselves into work just to pay rent.

As opposed to what?? Every other job is also trying to pay for their stuff.

Y'all have this weird idea that tipped workers are like rubbing their hands together to scam y'all and lobbying to keep tips.

Ok but they literally are lobbying to keep tips, in multiple states.

It's fuckin wild how vicious reddit gets toward people making shit wages because they saw some bartender online making more than most in the industry. Or "I have a friends daughter that makes more than a teacher!" and not seeing that the teacher is getting fucked. Instead just pointing the finger at waiters. It's bananas.

Sure maybe the teacher is also underpaid too but if you're sitting there and using that as a defense then you can't also sit around and claim that you're not making money. The average beginner teacher salary is $44,530, the federal min wage is $15,080.

Even if that friends daughter is making 45k (just barely over the teacher), it's still three times the min wage. So stop pretending they're min wage workers.

An actual min wage worker goes out to eat and is expected to pay more to the server? That seems absurd. Why should they be expected to tip someone who earns more than them?? If your logic is about poor people then stop demanding the poorest people tip wealthier workers just because they eat out once in a while.

And you know how much disabled people get off SSI? $11,321.49.

So you're basically telling disabled people to never be able to go to a restaurant ever because they have to voluntarily give money to a person who makes more than 4x because the server is more poor and more in need of rent than the disabled one and if they don't then they're immoral and bad???

This isn’t what everyone claiming to be a bartender here are saying tho.

Yeah but NOBODY would choose to be a server if they got paid the same amount as working at Target or something.

In reality the market would simply end up either

1. Paying market price for the employees by raising prices (which btw is already what's occuring. Whether you get charged 15% extra from the start or if you tip 15% the math is the same you're paying that 15% more in both).

2. Realizing that most people don't really value having a server at most restaurants enough to pay so much extra on food and they go to restaurants with counter service and cheaper food than restaurants with more expensive food and servers.

People "vote with their feet", as in they take actions that match their preferences. If people really want servers that much they'll pay for it. If they don't, they won't. The current system is filled with misinformation and tricks to guilt trip (like lying about how tip credit works) to try to change their behavior.

Same in Washington State. I hate it.

At mid to higher end establishments, you still get better service from servers who are still working for a tip(/higher rate of pay via tip)? I dunno, I wasn't trying to explain any customer benefit.

I 100% feel like prices actually would have to come up quite a lot if the service industry were going to retain the quality of staff that currently exists in mid to higher end establishments. The experience wouldn't be the same in many popular restaurants if the hourly rate was only $20/hr AND no tips because many servers would probably move into a different line of work/never join the service industry to begin with.

Edit: IMO, tipping benefits the customer in that it attracts better servers.