The Congressional budget bill now includes a provision to protect tips as the property of workers! Following the momentum of 350,000 restaurant workers, their allies, and YOU coming together to push back on Trump’s proposed rule to make tips the property of workers—and Sec. of Labor Acosta admitting that tips should be the property of workers—restaurant workers and allies are now poised to celebrate. Today, Congress included in its omnibus budget bill a provision that will codify protections for tipped restaurant workers against employers, supervisors, and managers taking any portion of their tips. Let’s keep the momentum going!
The Department of Labor, backed by the National Restaurant Association, recently proposed rolling back a rule that protects workers in tipped industries, including restaurant servers and bartenders, from having their tips taken away by their employers. Under the proposal, federal law would allow restaurant owners who pay their wait staff and bartenders as little as $7.25 per hour to confiscate and pocket all of the tips left by customers, without having to disclose to patrons what happens to tips.
Please sign on to my petition calling on the Department of Labor to not give into the National Restaurant Association's pressure to issue a new rule that would allow our employers to keep our tips.
Why is this important?
I am a server at Olive Garden and have been in the service industry for 35 years. For many of those years I made $2.15 per hour. I now make $2.83 per hour. Research suggests that servers and bartenders depend on our tip earnings to pay for essential expenses such as rent and utilities -- and from my experience, I know that is true. I am married 26 years now and like almost all tipped workers, I rely on my guests' tips to support my family.
Meanwhile my employer, the Olive Garden, which is part of Darden Restaurants, a member of the National Restaurant Association and Fortune 500 company who's CEO Gene Lee makes 4.27 million per year, is pressuring the US Department of Labor to institute this proposed rule that would allow the company to take our tips and keep them for their own profit.
Not only does Olive Garden and the National Restaurant Association think it's okay to pay us as little as $2.13 per hour, but they now also think it's okay to take our tips. But we are here to tell them it's not okay. We deserve fair wages. We deserve to keep our tips. And we deserve a Department of Labor that looks out for us as workers and does not give into the pressure of the National Restaurant Association and their millionaire members.
If you agree, please sign this petition calling on the Department of Labor to say NO to tip theft and be sure that servers will get to keep our tips.
ROC-United
