New York Restaurant Workers
OFW’s home state — and the deepest organized restaurant worker network in the country. 94% of New York restaurant workers support One Fair Wage. The Raise the Wage Act would deliver a $30/hour floor by 2030 and end the subminimum tipped wage. OFW is organizing to move it in Albany.
“No Public Space for Poverty Pay” — OFW NYC City Hall action against outdoor dining sheds that subsidize subminimum wages. April 16, 2026. Photo: Erin.
Living Wage For All NY Coalition Took Albany.
Workers shut out of New York’s minimum wage rallied at the State Capitol on May 27, 2026 — tipped restaurant workers, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated workers, workers with disabilities, and faith, racial-justice, immigrant, and disability-rights organizations stood together on the Million-Dollar Staircase, passed out pies from a local Albany bakery, and warned legislators they will keep returning until the bills pass.
The bills
- A10507 — Living Wage For All NY Act. Single universal wage floor tied to cost of living, adjusted automatically each year.
- A1200B / S415B — One Fair Wage Act. Ends the subminimum wage for tipped restaurant workers. Sponsors: Asm. Jessica González-Rojas (D-Queens), Sen. Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan).
- A3596B / S439B — Prison Wage Act. Provides a just wage for incarcerated workers.
- A1006B / S28C — Disability and Age Wage Equity Act. Ends the disability and youth subminimum wages. Sponsor: Asm. Phil Steck (D-Schenectady).
Worker voices from the staircase
“We’re just here to get a slice of the pie that we help to make. It’s our labor that continues to ensure that this country keeps moving forward. It’s our labor that continues to be exploited by the wealthiest people in this country without providing us a living wage. We will be back if this is not passed.” — Kelly Cheatle, Rochester worker advocate (closing remarks)
“My name is Eric. I have worked in restaurants for 41 years. I’ve worked hard, and I still live in poverty. It is not fair. We are tired of struggle. We deserve fair pay for all. I deserve respect.” — Eric, tipped restaurant worker, 41 years in the industry
“I felt like I was running on a treadmill that was on a platform moving backwards. You sprint just to stay in the same place. You rest for a second, and you’re falling behind. They try to pacify us with pizza parties — a cold pizza on a Friday afternoon after 60-hour weeks of work, a pat on the back, and a paper plate.” — Keith Williams, For the Many (Dutchess County) · community organizer, union member, father
“A society reveals its values not by what it says about work, but by how it treats its workers. A living wage is not charity. It is the promise owed to every worker.” — Sen. Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), co-sponsor of the One Fair Wage Act (S415B)
“Back in 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, allowing subminimum wages. The irony is, FDR was a president with a disability. And here we are in 2026 — 88 years later, 88 years later — still standing here fighting this fight.” — Blaise Bryant, NY Association on Independent Living, communications specialist
Emceed by Jen Disla, Deputy Director of One Fair Wage. Worker testimony clips, photos, and the full bills cheat sheet are in the LW4A NY press packet — reach out via our press page. Hashtags: #LivingWageForAllNY · #EndSubminimumWages · #WorkersCantWait.
What NYC voters say
October 2025 polling from Lake Research Partners: 72% of NYC voters support a $30 minimum wage — +53 margin, 54% strongly. 78% support ending the tipped subminimum wage — +64 margin, 57% strongly. NYC has the highest support of the four cities polled (NYC, Chicago, LA, plus a national swing-district sample). Demographic breakdown: Democrats 85%, women 77%, voters under 40 at 77%, Black voters 85%, Latino voters 75%. Support for ending the tipped subminimum climbs to 88% among Black NYC voters.
The fight
OFW is the lead organizer on New York’s campaign to end the tipped subminimum wage and raise the state minimum to $30/hour by 2030 — the most ambitious state-level wage target in the country. The vehicle: the Raise the Wage Act in Albany. OFW is organizing workers, testimony, and legislative support to move it in the next session.
Three things have made New York the country’s anchor state for this fight:
- The worker base. 800,000+ restaurant workers, the densest urban concentration in the U.S., and a worker network with 11+ years of organizing infrastructure already in place.
- The polling. 94% support among restaurant workers themselves. Broad voter support across the state, including in suburban districts where the industry has historically claimed worker opposition.
- The receipts. The country’s deepest body of New York-specific OFW research: harassment data, gender-equity briefs, holiday-season disruption analyses, and the long arc of women excluded from minimum-wage protections in the state.
Who’s affected
The New York restaurant workforce is roughly two-thirds women and disproportionately Black, Latina, and immigrant. Black tipped workers in New York earn substantially less than white tipped workers in the same restaurants on the same shifts — documented in OFW’s reports. Tipped workers in the state are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as the rest of the workforce.
Read OFW’s New York research for the full picture.
Three reports to start with
94% Support One Fair Wage
The original OFW poll documenting near-universal restaurant worker support for ending the subminimum wage in New York.
Read the poll →Stop Leaving Us Out
73 years of New York excluding women from minimum-wage protections. The gendered history of the subminimum wage in the state.
Read the brief →We Are Drowning — New York
2025 worker testimony from across New York — rent, groceries, and gas vs. tipped pay that has not moved.
Read the report →From New York workers
I have been working in the service industry for 11 years. I love working in this industry, but it is really hard to plan for the future because of the volatility of the income we receive.
Malika Henderson Server, 11-year veteran — New York
Most essential workers are struggling to pay rent and buy food. This imbalance forces many of us to make impossible choices — like whether to heat our homes or buy groceries.
Dee Marie Nessel Tipped worker — New York
94% of NY Restaurant Workers Are With Us
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