Depending on whether and when he wants to earn some more left-wing cred at the expense of working stiffs, Gov. Cuomo some time soon is likely to upend New York’s restaurant industry by killing tips.
Officially, it will be his labor secretary making the call, after supposedly careful research. But every “independent” official under this governor jumps when Cuomo says “frog.”
Technically, the move will merely end the longtime “tipped minimum wage” — which allows restaurants to pay servers far less per hour so long as tipping brings total pay above the usual minimum wage.
But eateries will have to raise prices to cover the difference, whether via a “gratuity” surcharge on every check or on each menu item. And most customers will compensate with smaller tips, often zero.
The change is a cause celebre on the left, beloved by Hollywood stars and the #MeToo movement, because it will supposedly protect workers from unscrupulous and/or lecherous employers.
But it’s not just restaurant owners who hate the idea. So do many, possibly most, servers — who risk earning less, and why mess with what works?
Here in New York, a much smaller 2014 hike in the tipped minimum wage coincided with server employment dropping from 168,000 to 164,000 in Manhattan alone, Crain’s reports. And city restaurants that have unilaterally adopted a “no tips, higher prices” model have seen up to half their longtime servers leave.
In Maine, after a voter referendum ended the tipped minimum wage in 2016, restaurant servers were in the front ranks in getting the old law restored — because it cost them too much.
One of them, “very proud, very, very blue Democrat” Joshua Chaisson, went on to become a national activist fighting against the “reform” movement by founding the Restaurant Workers of America.
His group lost last week in Washington, DC — where voters in a low-turnout primary election passed a ballot measure ending the tipped wage.
On the other side is the radical Restaurant Opportunities Center, an outfit founded in New York City that’s been trying to unionize restaurants for over a decade, with minimal success. ROC has plainly realized that it needs to end tipping to have any luck: Once all workers earn the same wage, they’ll be easier to organize.
Thing is, ROC once actually opened its own eatery, run along its desired lines: It failed.
If Cuomo really wants to help servers, he’ll keep his hands off their tips.