Let's just say you are one of those hard-working folks who toils in the bars, restaurants, and hotels of America. One of those "real folks" who relies on the generosity of patrons to supplement the otherwise sparse income you earn from your hours of labor in the service of others.
If you live in the state of Minnesota, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer would really like to enhance the bottom line of area businesses by slashing your wages:
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer says Minnesota should factor tips into the hourly pay for minimum wage workers in restaurants and other gratuity-based jobs.
After visiting a St. Paul restaurant Monday on a listening tour, Emmer advocated for a so-called "tip credit" to the state minimum wage.
If Emmer gets his way, Minnesota would lose a status enjoyed by seven states, states which recognize the economic peril of minimum wage employees by forbidding the payment of tipped employees at below-minimum wage values.
Federal law allows for said minimum wage to be dropped as low as $2.13 per hour, provided that the tips of those employees make up the difference. Of course, tip revenue can be exceptionally variable, which puts already vulnerable service workers in an even more vulnerable position in cases like the one Emmer is advocating for.
As a side note, please note the federal minimum wage for non-tipped employees has not been at the level Emmer is advocating for tipped workers since 1976, and that the federal minimum wage then ($2.20 per hour) would be worth approximately eight-and-a-half bucks per hour today.
Which still isn't adequate, in many cases. But leave it to the party of "regular folks" to think that even inadequate levels of income for service employees is too damned generous.
