People: “I am NOT paying my barista a tip for this, what do you MEAN they DEMAND a tip.”
Meanwhile the Barista is being paid less than US$3 an hour because in America, you can be paid that and be expected to reach minimum wage through tips if you work food service. Want to end that? Demand that food service workers be paid minimum wage at the very least. Don’t want to do even that? Then stop getting fast food.
No, this will not raise the price of food in any meaningful way.
No, these are not all teens, the average age of a minimum wage worker is 40.
No, this will not raise the price of goods generally. Wages have remained stagnant and the price of goods have risen regardless.
in my state it’s 17/20/25/27/38 i think but i’m not sure on the last two, it’s been a while. tips don’t enter into calculations at all toward your wages, they’re just separate.
Some places still use the federal minimum wage. Thats how you get Mississippi.
Edit: looked it up. Says that in 2024, “843,000 earned federal minimum wage or below… Today, only around 1 percent of hourly workers earn the federal minimum, while almost a quarter of the U.S. workforce makes less that $17 an hour.”
Additional info: the min wage has not been increased since 2009. It should be $11.17 by now just with inflation - and that’s not a living wage, just an arbitrary poverty wage:
Don’t want to do even that? Then stop getting fast food.
Not to take away from your point, but fast food workers get minimum wage, they’re not subject to the slave wages food service workers have to deal with. They get the moderately better minimum, rather than hoping tips makes it to minimum.
Don’t want to do even that? Then stop getting fast food.
That’s exactly right. Being against tipping as a concept is fine, but the idea that we can end tipping culture by refusing to tip is fundamentally accelerationist. “Surely if we torture the workers enough they’ll be forced to demand higher wages!”
Either we refuse to even be customers for places that underpay their workers, or we tip generously to try to make up for it.
I’m not aware of anywhere that pays (or is even allowed to pay) baristas what waiters and bartenders get. There may be exceptions. This post seems to be about literally anyplace with a new POS having basically options for 20-30% tips, despite the person behind it making like $15 an hour (at least where I live). Fortunately, lately, I’ll have the person reach around and press the “no tip” button often enough, since it’s usually the least obvious option available.
You’d be surprised. I’ve seen tons of fast food/counter service places that have tips enabled on the POS. And I sure as shit am not tipping at any place that I have to get my food from the counter.
I begrudgingly tip at ‘real’ food/drink establishments, since I’m societally handcuffed to supporting worker slavery wages in restaurants when I go there, but fuck literally every other establishment that asks for tips.
And I really need to get it through one of my partners’ heads that we should not be tipping minimum wage places, the org most likely pockets most of not all of that and the workers don’t see shit.
People: “I am NOT paying my barista a tip for this, what do you MEAN they DEMAND a tip.”
Meanwhile the Barista is being paid less than US$3 an hour because in America, you can be paid that and be expected to reach minimum wage through tips if you work food service. Want to end that? Demand that food service workers be paid minimum wage at the very least. Don’t want to do even that? Then stop getting fast food.
In my city they get paid 21/hr min wage iirc, and while lower elsewhere, barely anywhere uses federal min wage right?
in my state it’s 17/20/25/27/38 i think but i’m not sure on the last two, it’s been a while. tips don’t enter into calculations at all toward your wages, they’re just separate.
Same in my city abt the tips, but iirc federally they count towards min. wage
Some places still use the federal minimum wage. Thats how you get Mississippi.
Edit: looked it up. Says that in 2024, “843,000 earned federal minimum wage or below… Today, only around 1 percent of hourly workers earn the federal minimum, while almost a quarter of the U.S. workforce makes less that $17 an hour.”
Source: https://www.statista.com/chart/9251/workers-earning-minimum-wage-or-below-united-states/
Additional info: the min wage has not been increased since 2009. It should be $11.17 by now just with inflation - and that’s not a living wage, just an arbitrary poverty wage:
Damn well there’s the problem, ig i just live in an expensive city so there’s higher min
Not to take away from your point, but fast food workers get minimum wage, they’re not subject to the slave wages food service workers have to deal with. They get the moderately better minimum, rather than hoping tips makes it to minimum.
Yeah I was like wait, now we have to tip at Taco Bell? Fuck this country.
To be fair, I don’t think baristas get the ~$3 minimum wage. Not Starbucks workers at least. Still a valid point though.
I’m sorry, by if they work at Starbucks, they’re not baristas
OK cool. They’re still not making $3/hour.
That’s exactly right. Being against tipping as a concept is fine, but the idea that we can end tipping culture by refusing to tip is fundamentally accelerationist. “Surely if we torture the workers enough they’ll be forced to demand higher wages!”
Either we refuse to even be customers for places that underpay their workers, or we tip generously to try to make up for it.
The logic of punishing our fellow victims of the system has always struck me as both misguided and cruel.
Thank you for pointing it out!
This is what I’ve done. I haven’t been out to eat since before the pandemic. I got used to making my meals at home.
I’m not aware of anywhere that pays (or is even allowed to pay) baristas what waiters and bartenders get. There may be exceptions. This post seems to be about literally anyplace with a new POS having basically options for 20-30% tips, despite the person behind it making like $15 an hour (at least where I live). Fortunately, lately, I’ll have the person reach around and press the “no tip” button often enough, since it’s usually the least obvious option available.
$15/hr still isn’t a living wage in most places, just for the record. It’s better than server wages for sure, but it’s not stable-life-level income.
Fast food isn’t a place that typically solicits tips or pays tip wages. Sit down restaurants with waiters and bar tenders are where this occurs.
You’d be surprised. I’ve seen tons of fast food/counter service places that have tips enabled on the POS. And I sure as shit am not tipping at any place that I have to get my food from the counter.
I begrudgingly tip at ‘real’ food/drink establishments, since I’m societally handcuffed to supporting worker slavery wages in restaurants when I go there, but fuck literally every other establishment that asks for tips.
And I really need to get it through one of my partners’ heads that we should not be tipping minimum wage places, the org most likely pockets most of not all of that and the workers don’t see shit.
I am the same mantra as you. If you are being paid tip wages, then I’ll tip…if not hell no.