Work Reform

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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.

Our Goals

Higher wages for underpaid workers.
Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
Better and fewer working hours.
Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.

founded 2 years ago

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159

McDonald's criticizes US restaurant industry for uneven wage policies (apnews.com)

submitted 5 days ago by bytesonbike@discuss.online to c/workreform@lemmy.world

43 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Kempczinski also noted that in many states, sit-down restaurants are allowed to pay servers as little as $2.13 per hour, a federal minimum set in 1991, with tips making up the rest of their pay.

“So right now, there’s an uneven playing field. If you are a restaurant that allows tips or has tips as part of your equation, you’re essentially getting the customer to pay for your labor and you’re getting an extra benefit from no taxes on tips,” Kempczinski said.

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[–] bytesonbike@discuss.online 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Why?

They're not wrong. A server make $2 an hour, with the idea of being offset by tips to meet minimum wage.

[–] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 days ago

Again, I had written a long wall of text, trying to touch on all the points before I decided to simply. I won't be rewriting it all, but the main points are:

If McD's wanted servers, they can have them and then they would get any supposed benefits of having wait staff. 2. If there was so much as a penny extra profit to be made from this, McDs would be doing it. You'd have to be willfully ignorant to believe otherwise. 3. Servers make federal minimum wage (not the $2 quoted) at a minimum. Yes, bad/illegal bosses exist, but that's a separate issue. If they don't make up for the deficit with tips, the business is on the hook for making up the difference. The truth is though, it's rarely needed because they tend to make pretty decent money via the tips. 4. Whether customers pay the employees directly (via tips) or indirectly, they're still paying. The employers like McDs are not charities that are literally giving away free employee work, they're building that cost into the products and services they offer, which are then paid by customers. 5. And this is the biggest one: Large corporations and ultra wealthy literally make a sport out of shirking their tax responsibilities, so given all the other points are basically moot, the sheer audacity of making an argument about taxes benefits for small businesses and workers is something else.

And to be clear, I'm not advocating for tipping culture or tip-based wages, since a lot of people (not necessarily you) seem to have reading comprehension problems.