Don't Just Tip Your Waiter. Demand Equity for Restaurant Workers

Valentine's Day is the restaurant industry's single biggest sales night of the year. When you're out with your honey this evening, spare a thought for the people who help to make your evening so perfect. They need your excellent tip, but they also need a minimum wage that keeps up with inflation and that reflects the sector's enormous growth.

Today, the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (I'm proud board member) releases reports at industry summits in D.C., Los Angeles and Miami. The "Behind the Kitchen Door" reports summarize the situation for workers in each city, workers whose national minimum wage has been stuck at $2.13 an hour for 20 years. Also today, Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards reintroduces the WAGES Act to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers to 70 percent of the national standard.

The studies are based on surveys of more than 1,700 workers, and interviews with nearly 100 employers in these cities. They've been put together with surveys of 4,300 workers and 240 employers in five other cities--Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago,...

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