New York
To achieve One Fair Wage in New York, we need to demand that New York lawmakers fairly compensate tipped workers by signing onto Assembly Bill A1710 (González-Rojas) and Senate Bill S5567 (Jackson). These bills would phase out the subminimum wage for tipped workers and enable tip sharing with the back of the house.
One Fair Wage NY Bill Co-Sponsors
“Women, women of color, and immigrant women have been denied wage equity for too long. We must put an end to the subminimum wage, increase the minimum wage, and peg it to inflation in order to ensure that all workers are treated equally and fairly.”
Senator Robert Jackson, Bill Champion
“I know many tipped workers are women of color and experience the compounding impacts of intersectional oppression, including sexism, racism and xenophobia. I am dedicated to the fight for a living wage and have a long record of organizing and speaking out alongside workers directly impacted.”
Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Bill Champion
The OFW NY Campaign
Since the pandemic, restaurant workers have been leaving the industry in droves. Our research reveals that 53 percent of restaurant workers surveyed are considering leaving the industry, 70 percent of whom are citing low wages and tips as their primary reason for leaving, and 78 percent of workers state that the only reason they would stay in the industry is if they received a livable wage with tips on top.
In response to this staffing crisis, thousands of restaurants nationwide have raised their wages to get workers to attract and retain staff, but this measure is not enough.
Through state campaigns, we are focusing on raising wages for tipped workers so that the 1 million restaurant workers who have left since the onset of the pandemic can return to an industry that fairly compensates essential workers.
In 2019, Governor Cuomo issued an executive order to end the subminimum wage for all tipped industries with the exception of the restaurant industry. Restaurant workers were thus excluded from receiving fair wages.
Now, Governor Hochul can support low-wage workers by adopting One Fair Wage to guarantee a full minimum wage for all workers.
OFW In the News
OFW In the News
What NY Lawmakers Are Saying About One Fair Wage:
“New York prides itself as a progressive model for the rest of the country, but we still have so many residents living in poverty because of how low our wages are relative to our high cost of living. Ending the vicious cycles of poverty is contingent on us fighting for higher, more equitable wages.”
Assembly Member Kimberly Jean-Pierre, AD11
"Most recently to keep myself afloat and support running full-time I took shifts during the height of the 2021 omicron wave. I was not given hazard pay and the former manager attempted to skim my tips even though I was the only employee capable of working. I hate phonies and I hate bullies. Wage theft is something I will not tolerate and I believe firmly that tipped restaurant workers deserve an increase in base wages and hazard pay so long as Covid-19 continues to be a risk that could lead to hospitalization and death.”
Assembly Member Tony Simone, AD75
“For a period of time, many years, I worked as an attendant parking cars. I relied on the tips received as supplemental income and the amount varied from day to day depending on who needed their vehicle parked. I understand the importance of eliminating the sub-minimum wage to provide workers with the consistency to plan for the future for them and their families.”
Congressman Brian Higgins, CD26
What National Leaders Are Saying About One Fair Wage:
"There is nowhere in this country where a full-time worker paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 can make ends meet — and yet many restaurant workers are paid a sub-minimum wage of just $2.13 an hour. Totally absurd. It's time to end starvation wages for tipped workers.”
Senator Bernie Sanders
“There should be no such thing as a "sub-minimum wage worker" in the wealthiest country in the world. I am an original cosponsor of Senator Bernie Sanders "Raise the Wage Act" (S. 150), which would end this unfair practice by guaranteeing tipped workers are paid at least the full federal minimum wage by repealing the subminimum wage for tipped workers to ensure consistent, livable pay.”
Senator Ed Markey
“It is a problem of economic security; it is a problem of being too dependent on a customer base, and there’s no way for a worker to know at the end of the day how much they’re going to earn. This leads to a whole series of insecurity and precarity that we should not have in our economy.”
Deputy Labor Secretary, Julie Su
Why New York Needs to Pass One Fair Wage
Tipped workers are primarily women and women of color and have long been underpaid and underprotected. The subminimum wage for tipped workers is a direct legacy of slavery, created at Emancipation to hire Black women without pay and make them live on tips.
According to a recent NY Times article, thousands of restaurants in New York and nationwide have stepped up to solve this wage shortage by raising wages from the subminimum wage for tipped workers to a median of $13.50 plus tips.
Reports
Letters
OFW NY Bill Launch Rally on International Women’s Day, 3/8/23 at NY Capitol, Albany.
Workers in NY thank House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for stepping up against the Other NRA and returning the money he received from them after finding out about their fundraising schemes to lobby against workers.
Contact:
Endorsing Organizations
Contact for Press Inquiries
One Fair Wage
National Employment Law Project
Uptown Progressive Action
Citizens' Committee for Children of NY
NYPAN (New York Progressive Action Network)
Hunger Free America
The Legal Aid Society
Main Street Alliance
Legal Momentum, The Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund
Girls for Gender Equity
Zonta Brooklyn
Restaurant Opportunities Center-NY
American Association of University Women - Rockland County
Equal Rights Advocates
Coalition United for Equitable Urban Policy
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
Strong Economy For All Coalition
Raise Up NY
Human Services Council
For the Many
Center for NYC Affairs, The New School
Worker Justice Center of New York
WNYCOSH