Restaurant Workers Demand Equal Pay, Appealing to
Restaurant Lobbyists and Congress

By Naima Ramos-Chapman & Tara Kutz
Campus Progress
April 20, 2012

http://campusprogress.org/articles/restaurant_workers_demand_equal_pay_appealing_to_restaurant_lobbyists_and_c/#When:17:09:13Z

A group of young restaurant workers donning black-and-
white apparel, typically associated with the service
industry, lobbied outside the National Restaurant
Association's Washington D.C. headquarters on Equal Pay
Day this week, calling for an increase on the
federally-set $2.13 minimum wage for those earning
tips.

The sub-par wage has made earning a decent standard of
living unsustainable for the female-heavy industry.

"Women are disproportionately affected by the low
tipped minimum wage," said MomsRising CEO and executive
director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. "The vast majority of
restaurant servers are women and, in many cases, those
women are moms and the primary breadwinners in the
families. The irony is that these same moms who earn
their living serving food often don't earn enough to
put food on the table, make rent, and cover utilities."

Pastel-colored balloons hovered over a large
outstretched banner placed on the pavement that read:
"Women are worth more than $2.13." Demonstrators danced
while singing a reworked version of the Boyz II Men hit
"Motown Philly," instead of enlisting the expertise of
long-winded speakers to communicate their message, and
chanted spiritedly in several different languages.

The National Organization of Women, MomsRising, and
other Restaurant Opportunities Center allies showed
their support at the protest before some left to shadow
National Restaurant Association members on their lobby
visits on Capitol Hill.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) recently proposed a bill
dubbed the "Rebuild America Act" that would triple the
minimum tipped wage for the first time in 21 years. But
the proposal has been rebuffed by Republicans and
restaurant lobbyists (like the NRA) who argue it would
force businesses and restaurateurs to eliminate jobs.

A recent report by ROC found that servers-71 percent of
which are female-are almost three times more likely to
be paid below the poverty line than the general
workforce and are nearly twice as likely to need food
stamps.

The report also argued that by keeping the federal
minimum wage low, lawmakers and lobbyists are
institutionalizing the gender gap in pay as 52 percent
of all restaurant workers are women, but two-thirds of
tipped workers are women.

"In what is one of our fastest-growing industries
coming out of the recession, we should really ensure
that the men and women who serve us and prepare our
food are earning wages that keep them out of poverty,"
said Saru Jayaraman, co-director of the ROC United in a
statement. "It's absurd that the minimum wage has
remained unchanged for over 20 years despite the
massive profits the industry earns. We're here to tell
our leg."

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