Towards the end of last week, House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez traveled to Queens, New York in order to bartend at a Restaurant Opportunity Center United (ROC) initiative.
This initiative centered around pushing for legislation which would provide restaurant workers, who generally rely upon tips, a flat minimum wage, as documented by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
What You Need to Know
Now, Ocasio-Cortez’s grandstanding actually backfired, seeing as people noticed that no restaurant workers who rely upon tips were in attendance during this event. After it was all over, the freshman congresswoman got to hear what tipped workers really thought of her and the legislation which she is supportive of. It’s also important to note that legislation like this has been presented before, but workers who actually rely upon tips have a history of pushing back against it.
Travis Weiss, Rebellion DC’s culinary concepts director, shared his thoughts about Ocasio-Cortez and her attendance at the ROC initiative.
In Weiss’ own words:
“She is a hack and a disgrace. An ROC-sponsored, invite-only event where no ACTUAL tipped employees were present shows you the depth of her concern for the real workers.”
EARLIER: Rep. @AOC returns waits tables and bartends at a restaurant in Queens in support of One Fair Wage. https://t.co/f39oHq9nOA pic.twitter.com/hpfEXL5tJU
— The Hill (@thehill) June 1, 2019
Many workers who rely upon tips previously noted that changing their pay to a flat minimum wage would come along with hidden pitfalls. Those pitfalls include employers having to implement service charges or increase their menu prices in order to offset the extra costs. Furthermore, certain workers may even have hours reduced, which would, in turn, lessen their earnings.
It seems as though this is something which Ocasio-Cortez has not thought about.
Employment and Earnings
In many cases, workers are paid in accordance with the value which they bring to a business. Many people could also argue that the restaurant industry isn’t the one for building a lifelong career. Ocasio-Cortez is one of many Democrats to champion for higher wages; she is also one of many Democrats who ignore the fact that when wages go up, employers always take actions to offset the costs.
These are typically actions which counteract the entire purpose of raising wages to begin with.
What do you think about the backlash which AOC received? Sound off in the comments section down below!
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