Ocasio-Cortez Bartends, Highlights Tipped Worker Lower Wages

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez advocated for legislation Friday by going back to her roots: jumping behind the bar.

"Off Topic/On Politics" Podcast: How Could a Minimum Wage for Tipped Workers Impact Small Businesses?

The congresswoman stepped into her old job in Queens for about an hour, waitressing and bartending, to call attention to the lower minimum wage for tipped workers in New York and across the United States.

So far I’ve seen some gin being measured in a jigger and some actual cocktail shaking which made the crowd go “wooh” and then brief applause when she poured: pic.twitter.com/NaEUq8dOdk
— Gloria Pazmino (@GloriaPazmino) May 31, 2019

"It is not enough to just be a land of freedom; we need to be a land of economic freedom," the representative for the 14th Congressional District in Queens and the Bronx said at a rally at The Queensboro in Jackson Heights. "It's so important that we have a $15 national minimum wage."

Unlike most workers in New York state, bartenders are not eligible for the $15 minimum wage. Instead, they and other tipped workers have a $10 minimum wage and can earn tips.

Before she became the darling of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, Ocasio-Cortez was slinging beer and cocktails at a place like The Queensboro, earning a minimum wage of less than $3 an hour and relying on tips to make ends-meet.

"Any job that pays $2.13 an hour is not a job; it's indentured servitude," the congresswoman said.

Ocasio-Cortez held the event to advocate in favor of enacting the federal "Raise the Wage Act," which would eliminate a lower minimum wage for tipped workers.

"The restaurant industry is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in America, but the lowest paying," said Saru Jayaraman, the president of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. "Today, 70 percent of tipped workers here in New York state and around the country are women. They're largely women working at small restaurants, IHOPS, Applebees, diners — they're not making enough tips to live on."

Ocasio-Cortez and other advocates argue relying on tips to supplement the minimum wage is not reliable, and most tipped workers are women who face daily sexual harassment.

“Then there’s the added stress of not knowing how much you’re going to make by the end of the day” she says. “How you get paid depends on the day, the salon location and the amount of customers that day,”
— Gloria Pazmino (@GloriaPazmino) May 31, 2019

Organizers are also calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to pass the "One Fair Wage Act," which would eliminate the tipped wage at the state level in New York. Last year, the governor ordered the Department of Labor to study the issue, but he hasn't yet taken any action.

The proposal is facing opposition from the restaurant industry. A spokesperson for NYC Hospitality Alliance said in a statement, "… eliminating the restaurant tip credit poses a great threat to small businesses and jobs. We already have too many vacant storefronts in too many neighborhoods, and the city's full-service restaurant industry is shedding jobs. It's unfortunate when elected officials and celebrities participate in publicity stunts that will harm so many small business and tipped workers."

Ocasio-Cortez's legislation would raise the federal tipped worker minimum wage to $15 an hour. That's slightly higher than the current rate in New York, which is $7.50.

Only seven states — California, Alaska, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Minnesota — require employers pay tipped workers the state minimum wage before tips. 17 states allow employers to pay tipped workers a $2.13 minimum cash wage before tips.

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Ocasio-Cortez Advocates for Tipped Workers to Get $15 Minimum Wage by Stepping into Her Old Job

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