Campaigners Call for “One Fair Wage” to Help End Sexual Harassment for Tipped Restaurant Workers

A new report finds up to 90 percent of women working restaurant jobs that depend on tips have experienced workplace sexual harassment. More than 70 percent of tipped workers are women, and female restaurant workers are especially vulnerable to harassment in states where tipped workers earn a federal minimum wage of $2.13 per hour. Today, just seven states require employers pay a regular minimum wage before tips. We speak with Saru Jayaraman, co-director and co-founder of Restaurant Opportunities Center United, which has released a new report, "The Glass Floor: Sexual Harassment in the Restaurant Industry." Jayaraman is director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of "Behind the Kitchen Door." We also speak with restaurant worker, Ashley Ogogor, and with former waitress, Eve Ensler, the award-winning playwright and author of The Vagina Monologues. She helped create V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls, and the One Billion Rising campaign, which is now in its third year.

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Source: democracynow.org
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Restaurant Employees Have Broad Public Support For Better Pay, Sick Days: Survey

One of the key narratives in the restaurant world over the past year has been an increased focus on workers' rights. Restaurant employees scored big settlements in tip-skimming lawsuits against restaurateurs such as Mario Batali and Eric Ripert, and fought tooth-and-nail for better pay from fast-food conglomerates, even as a few restaurant executives threatened to cut hours to avoid giving employees the benefits that Obamacare would require them to provide. Workers' struggle for higher pay and better benefits has been conveyed movingly in both personal essays and reported articles.