One Fair Wage

Leaders of the One Fair Wage coalition hosted a panel discussion on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 to call attention to racial discrepancies affecting Black women in the service industry. Joined by former restaurant workers, students and local leaders alike, the space filled with around 20 people at BusBoys and Poets who were brought together with food and the sight of signs that read, “Yes on 82, Vote for a Fair Wage.” The panel ignited a discussion that first introduced the detrimental history of the restaurant employer industry, dating back to emancipation to present-day matters affecting service workers in light of a post-covid era. “Because these workers are forced to live on tips, not only do they have to put up with sexual harassment, they have to put up with the racial biases of customers,” Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage said. “There is irrefutable evidence that tipping in this country is not based on the quality of service, it’s based on the race and gender of the server, and Black women always get tipped less even when they perform what’s called perfect service.” One Fair Wage is an organization with nearly 30,000 service workers and 2,000 restaurant employers, all with a mission to advance policy efforts that ensure that service workers nationwide are paid the full minimum wage by their employers. The coalition is currently leading the campaign effort 25 by 250, which aims to promote legislation in 25 states to raise wages overall and end subminimum wages – by the nation’s 250th anniversary. Jayaraman emphasized that the restaurant industry overwhelmingly represents women, women of color, the formerly incarcerated, and immigrants. With Black Women’s Equal Pay Day taking place this year on September 21, 2022– Jayaraman made it a point to note that the sector went from zero minimum wage in 1938 to $2.13 as of 2022. Ifeoma Ezimako, a former industry worker who worked service jobs while attending Howard University, said that One Fair Wage played an integral part in her life as it gave workers a platform and opportunity to understand discrepancies in the industry. “I worked from server, to host, to bartender to bar back and I didn’t realize I was receiving below subminimum wage,” Ezimako said. “I believe that tips are supposed to be gratuity and not paying somebody’s salary. Thank God I don’t have any dependents, I don’t even know how my fellow coworkers kept their head above water with kids and families and different obligations.” Debbie Ricks, a longtime restaurant worker, thanked everyone for attending the panel and shared her sentiments. “My fellow servers and industry workers are thrilled that workers nationwide are realizing their worth,” Ricks said. “This is not a resignation, it is a revolution of our principles and values.” Recounting the time she had been a server in the industry, she shared the encounters she faced when customers had behaved inappropriately towards her and how that had shaped her realization that the tips – making up the bulk of her pay– depended heavily on customer feedback. “I asked if there was anything else I could get for you, and the guy responded and said ‘You can get the check and let me see your face so we know how much to tip you,’” Ricks said. “It was at that moment I realized the customer understood that they had the power to decide how much I went home with and if I did not comply, I may not make any money.” With the collective support and emotional response from people in the room, Ricks concluded her testimony and reaffirmed the mission of One Fair Wage: ending the subminimum wage. DC Councilmember Janeese Lewis George was present at the panel and shared her experiences working in the service industry. She touched on the impact of Initiative 77, a national effort to increase the minimum wage for restaurant workers which propelled her to run for a Ward 4 council seat after the measure had been overturned. “I ran for council so that the next time that this came around, I would be on the council to not only say we need to maintain this, but to also tell my personal story of what it meant to be a Black woman tipped-worker,” she said. George, who took a server job during law school to help her family stay in the district after increasing rates of gentrification, witnessed firsthand the harsh realities of being a Black woman in the hospitality industry. She shared stories of the friends she made, including many single mothers just fighting to survive. “This is a movement to get fair wages and fair labor practices for Black and Brown immigrant women across the city,” George said. “A domestic workers’ Bill of Rights, Initiative 82, childcare educator raises, we are doing it all and that’s the importance of having Black and Brown women in leadership.” This November, District residents will be allowed to vote on Initiative 82, a ballot measure aimed at increasing the subminimum wage for tipped workers and would remove tips from equating to the total number of a worker’s salary, leaving the responsibility on the employer. With a mission to ensure that all workers in the service industry are adequately paid and treated fairly, One Fair Wage is committed to hosting events and campaign trails that end a legacy of subjugation, one which will provide Black women economic stability. It’s important that we as a collective understand the detrimental effects of the tipping industry on those within our communities. Let’s work together to break a legacy of slavery, an industry that determines how much funds one brings home; tips based not on service but on the intersectionality of race and gender.