WASHINGTON, D.C. – In advance of 2/13, “Tipped Minimum Wage Day of Action,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) held a news conference call to urge Congress to support workers and promote economic opportunity for all Americans by raising the tipped minimum wage—which stands at just $2.13 an hour—for the first time in more than 20 years. To support tomorrow’s day of action, Brown also unveiled a Senate resolution aimed at boosting the tipped federal minimum wage, which would help lift hundreds of thousands of workers out of poverty.

“Every year, millions of Americans living on a tipped wage are working hard and taking responsibility, but are lucky just to get by,” Brown said. “Earning a base of $2.13 an hour, even with tips, isn’t very much—not when you need to put food on the table, fill your gas tank, send your children to school, and provide a safe place for them to live. Every hardworking American deserves the opportunity to earn a living wage. Passing the Fair Minimum Wage Act and raising the tipped minimum wage is a step in the right direction.” 

When the tipped minimum wage was first established, it was 50 percent of the regular minimum wage, and at its peak, 60 percent during the 1980s. Today, however, it stands at a mere 29 percent of the regular minimum wage. Brown is a cosponsor of the Fair Minimum Wage Act which would gradually raise the tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage. Brown’s legislation would also increase the regular minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from its current $7.25, and index it to inflation. That means that under Brown’s legislation, tipped workers would see their minimum wage increase to $7.10 or higher depending on inflation.  

Brown’s resolution to raise the federal tipped minimum wage currently has 16 co-sponsors: U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Carl Levin (D-MI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).  

According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), there are approximately 3.3 million workers in the United States and about 60 percent of them are restaurant servers. Joining Brown on the call to discuss the importance of raising the tipped minimum wage was Saru Jayaraman, the Co-Founder & Co-Director of Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United. Immediately following today’s call, Brown released new data by ROC United that details the “State of the Tipped Worker.” According to the data, tipped workers have more than twice the poverty rate of the American workforce as a whole; and restaurant servers are nearly twice as likely to depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed their families. Just in Ohio, according to further ROC United research, there were 50,000 tipped workers in 2012 earning at or below the state tipped minimum wage of $3.85; and in 2012, there were 201,000 non-tipped workers earning at or below the state tipped minimum wage of $7.70.

According to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the minimum wage has lost more than 30 percent of its spending power over the last forty years. But according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), raising the federal minimum wage for both tipped and non-tipped workers would lift 4.6 million people out of poverty. And NELP also concluded that the Fair Minimum Wage Act would boost GDP by nearly $33 billion and generate 140,000 new jobs over three years as workers spend their raises in their local businesses and communities. 

Brown recently met with five Ohio businesses that support raising the Federal minimum wage. They include the Yankee Kitchen, a diner in Youngstown; Grounds for Thought, a coffeehouse and bookstore in Bowling Green; Dempsey’s, a restaurant in Columbus; Brothers Printing, a print shop in Cleveland; and Synergistic Systems, a computer consulting company also in greater Cleveland.   

                                                

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