The Key to Saving the New York State Restaurant Industry Post-Covid 19
The subminimum wage for tipped workers is 66 percent of the overall minimum wage and ranges from $8.35-$10.40 an hour in the state of New York. A direct legacy of slavery, the subminimum wage impacts nearly 300,000 tipped workers who are 55 percent women and over 50 percent people of color, and an overall restaurant workforce of over 550,000 workers in New York.
While some tipped workers in New York received One Fair Wage at the end of 2019 (nail salon workers and car wash workers among others), restaurant workers, who constitute the majority of tipped workers, were left out. This majority-female workforce continue to suffer higher rates of sexual harassment and economic hardship as a result. We need the governor to take executive action to pass One Fair Wage for tipped restaurant workers and for the legislature to pass S 808/A10203 to institutionalize One Fair Wage for all workers.