When explaining why tipping culture in the US is a thing and why it should be abolished in favor of just… paying people an equal, consistent wage to live a decent life would be preferred I explained a bit about the history of tipping in the US and where it came from.
And then immediately got someone going on and on about how much they hate waitstaff because apparently they all make bank on tips or whatever, and that I was “stupid” and wrong about tipping as a practice being used to supplement income and that it was actually the opposite! That waitstaff had a lower wage because they made so much off of tips. They then went on to jokingly ask me “if construction workers got tipped, do you think their wage would go down?” (I’m not too sure if they were implying the reason a waitstaffs pay was because it was an easy job compared to construction or vise verse…?? also construction workers are paid per contract, not hourly, and tipping your contractors is not common practice in the US)
Man…. (General sound of disbelief/frustration, not an addressing of a specific person)
The first common usage of tips in the US was just after the civil war. Emancipated slaves were barely being paid shit. So they often had to rely on tips to afford the cost of living. This was an issue especially in the food industry and the railroad industry.
The practice was eventually codified into law in 1966, allowing employers to pay their workers only 50% of their pay so long as they received a certain amount of tips. In 1996, the tipped wage was frozen to $2.13 rather than being 50% of a workers pay. And up until 2018 - I repeat, 2018! - it was perfectly legal for employers to seize their workers tips.
Regardless of whether or not some workers are making bank is irrelevant. The practice is, and always has been, to benefit the employer.
this is classism and (as far as the US history goes, as usual) racism
