• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    12
    ·
    10 months ago

    The barista shakes his head in disgust

    Its funny, because minimum wage laws are stagnant and tipped positions are even worse than the bottom rate. $2.35/hr to work in a position that’s tipped.

    I get it. Demanding 25% of the base price to pay your staff is a fucked way to do business. But if you’re not going to pay them, their bosses don’t seem interested in doing it either. Somebody’s got to do it.

    • piecat@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      21
      ·
      10 months ago

      Maybe the problem with tipping is that corporations are able to play chicken with the consumer.

      Who’s willing to let the worker starve? The consumers are definitely more empathetic

      • Leg@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        10 months ago

        Corpos and their willingness to weaponize empathy is pretty fucking evil.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        Maybe the problem with tipping is that corporations are able to play chicken with the consumer.

        How many restaurant owners do you know that would increase wages simply because the daily tip rate was falling?

        Who’s willing to let the worker starve? The consumers are definitely more empathetic

        Empathizing with one’s working peers is central to emergent class consciousness. Tip your waiters today. Don’t cross that picket line tomorrow. General strike the day after.

    • SoupBrick@yiffit.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      To be very clear, I sympathize with people who are stuck working a shitty job. That being said, the consumer does not have to give handouts to companies in order to pay employees. If people cannot survive off of wages being paid, they will most likely find a different job. Capitalism and the free market and all that jazz. Hit corpos in the only place they care about, their bottom line.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        the consumer does not have to give handouts to companies in order to pay employees

        I’ll tip regardless.

        If people cannot survive off of wages being paid, they will most likely find a different job.

        There are a lot of reasons why this doesn’t hold up. The first and foremost is that transitioning jobs requires savings. The way I see it, my tips are going to help them cross the hurdle to a better job when they get sick of this one. If I withhold my financial support from my working peers, I’m only aiding the employer as their staff remains precariously positioned.

    • prayer@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      10 months ago

      A barista isn’t a tipped wage position. Virtually only restaurant servers are paid the tipped wage. Just because they put a tip jar out doesn’t mean their hourly wage drops to pennies, you only get that wage if a significant amount of your income is from tips.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/wagestips

        Legally speaking, baristas can be treated as tipped wage positions so long as the tips they accumulate earn them in excess of the minimum wage. Putting out a tip jar absolutely does mean their hourly wage can be cut. And thanks to common wage-theft practices by employers and negligence by local prosecutors, an employee who falls under the minimum wage has an uphill battle to recover the difference.