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Trump stiffs workers. Again

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  • Karen Hedwig Backm
    2018-02-02 11:19:13 AM
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    This time it's underpaid waitresses and their tips. It's a Trump and Republican wage theft scam called "tip pooling". The argument goes that some of the tips should go to invisible workers at the back of restaurant, like dishwashers. That sounds reasonable, as far as THAT goes, but it goes further.

    It seems that if everyone employed gets a "minimum", and in the case of most waitresses, the minimum is quite minimum and often less than the minimum of other workers. But, the argument goes, well, if everyone gets the "minimum" why then the employer can skim the tips.

    Twisted, evil, Republican, capitalistic reasoning.

    But, forgive me, no one gives a shit about the tips of waitresses, including prominent feminist women's groups, labor unions, folks that you would think would raise a hue and cry about the mass felony against waitresses, but I hear not a peep.

  • Schmidt
    2018-02-02 12:23:12 PM
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    I give a shit about the tips of waitresses and tip 20 percent at a minimum. More if the service is really good. I do this because I know that the waiters and waitresses are given a puny wage and many also have families to support. It's not something that I agree with. They should be given a decent wage and benefits to begin with and then tipping would be less necessary.

  • Chet Ruminski
    2018-02-02 03:06:32 PM
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    Schmidt Wrote:

    I give a shit about the tips of waitresses and tip 20 percent at a minimum. More if the service is really good. I do this because I know that the waiters and waitresses are given a puny wage and many also have families to support. It's not something that I agree with. They should be given a decent wage and benefits to begin with and then tipping would be less necessary.

    We go to Waffle house about once a month and I give the server and cook each $10. But tipping is sometimes a threat to civil order. I gave $10 to the girl that waited on us at Popeyes and she started happy hollering and then the other workers started hollering and wanted her to share. Close to a mini riot. It is surprising how many people won't accept any money. Tipping fast food workers is such a small amount of money but the reactions are usually so positive that you can't help but think it must have a positive influence. I don't care what kind of service I receive I always tip. We were with two other couples at Coach and Four and our server did something to infringe upon the space of one of the royalty in our group. She said she was going to say something to the manager when we left. She did and I was standing right next to her. I gave the manager fifty dollars to give to the guy and extend my apologies to him.
  • TJ
    2018-02-02 05:34:21 PM
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    I too think that tipping appropriately is just part of being a decent human being. If you can give a little extra on occasion it might help improve someone's day. I have known many servers and have heard many stories.
  • planethead
    2018-02-02 08:34:31 PM
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    Interesting info, haven't heard about this. I used to be a waitress, worked for years prior to my current legal occupation, so I get how important tips are. But I'm not sure why you might be using 'waitress' solely, since there are just as many males as females in the server occupation these days. Maybe that's why some feminist groups aren't making the noise you think you might hear, since they may not view this as a strictly feminist issue? Where are you reading/seeing the info that the employer can now 'skim' tips? As far as tip pooling, that's pretty standard in the industry.
  • planethead
    2018-02-02 08:39:00 PM
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    Googled, but not seeing much on this, at least not as a strictly Trump initiative...is there something that makes you think this is due to a policy of this particular WH administration?
  • Dutch
    2018-02-03 09:02:03 AM
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    The whole thing comes down to "meddling"; this seems to be a "national" and "international" sport of this country. At least in Europe no one interferes what you want to tip or not. We try to "meddle" everywhere in the world; it got us only more and more in the "shit swamp" till our necks.
  • Karen Hedwig Backm
    2018-02-03 06:22:26 PM
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    Thanks for saying this, but you, assuredly, are not the problem. I'm very disappointed that the Feminist Majority and NOW have not picked up this issue, not to mention SEIU and other unions.
  • wwjd
    2018-02-04 01:13:47 AM
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    I tip more in cheaper restaurants than more upscale ones if I get decent service simply because I know they are working for the lowest wages and absolutely depend on tips to survive.
  • Schmidt
    2018-02-04 08:30:46 AM
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    Eater.com: What’s Next for Restaurant Tip-Pooling Laws?

    I don't want to drag this discussion on more than is warranted, but there is not a one size fits all in restaurants. As my wife and I travel a lot in our retirement, having a nice evening meal is an important part of that relaxation. I use Trip Advisor and Yelp to help guide us to the kinds of restaurants that will meet that expectation, and the number one criteria for us is the quality of food. If the food is good it means they have hired good cooks and are paying them a decent wage to keep them. A bad cook can ruin a business faster than bad service. So my expectation is that the restaurant is paying the cook well and should not necessarily share in the tips.

    Service is indeed an important part of our evening experience, and for that a good waiter will earn the tips that he/she receives. It starts with knowing the menu, what's good, and what's not so good. My wife quizzes the waiter on ingredients and looks for the waiter to help steer her in her selections. We also order drinks and starters and hate it when our main meals are served while we are still in the middle of eating our starters. We hate being rushed to eat.

    It goes without saying that a good waiter will keep our water glasses filled, note when our wine or beer glasses are empty, check on how well we like our meals, fix anything that isn't right, and generally just be a pleasant and helpful person for the evening experience. And for that the waiter should get to keep his/her tips and not share.

    As far as the other staff...dish washers and such...those do not require a great deal of skills. I hope the restaurant is paying them at least the minimum wage, but I don't feel that waiters should have to share their tips with dish washers.

    There are, of course, different rules that may apply to fast food restaurants and such. The businesses need to work those out. But for a decent restaurant that wants to stay in business, they need to understand their customers needs and good waiters (in addition to good cooks) are important for staying in business.

    I am therefore opposed to the tip pooling laws being proposed.

    My opinion...

  • Dutch
    2018-02-05 08:38:54 AM
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    Here is a nice one, enjoy!

    https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDemocrats/videos/1620716021354779/

  • that guy in AZ
    2018-02-05 02:49:35 PM
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    Recently, Alex Gibney produced a six part series for Netflix called “dirty money”.

    Part 6 focuses on Trump. In his words, “You look at the trail of slime he left behind and just shake your head and wonder”.

    Here is “the rest of the story”:

    https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/04/alex-gibney-dirty-money-interview-donald-trump" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/04/alex-g...

    Watching the video was last week's assignment for the Economics class that I monitored this morning. Although I have not watched the video yet, I'm fairly certain it would show how Trump stiffed his employees.

  • Chet Ruminski
    2018-02-05 06:00:59 PM
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    wwjd Wrote: I tip more in cheaper restaurants than more upscale ones if I get decent service simply because I know they are working for the lowest wages and absolutely depend on tips to survive.
    I am not saying this to be mean but how a person survives shouldn't depend on how their service is perceived.
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