âTo fight sexual harassment, we must start with better wagesâ
Claudia Chi Ku is a single mother of four who works as a server, food-runner, and bartender at a popular Mexican grill in Los Angeles. Like many in the restaurant industry, Chi Ku faces sexual harassment daily, while averaging just $10 in tips per shift.
She tolerates more than she might otherwise because she needs the money.
âYou have to respond in a nice way so they donât feel bad,â she says, âIn the end, I depend on their tips â I depend on them being there.â
There are more than 11 million restaurant workers in the United States, and many of them have stories similar to Chi Kuâs, said Saru Jayaraman, director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California at Berkeley and co-director or the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United).
The food service industry is notoriously hard on its workers, in part because the federal minimum wage is just $2.13 for people who earn tips, Jayaraman said.
Those rock-bottom earnings all but guarantee a climate in which food servers put up with customer harassment just to eke out a living, she said.
Read the full story on Slate