There's a surprise side order of sourpuss getting served up in the national argument over raising the minimum wage: discontented workers say they'll stop tipping when they go out to eat.
The surprise battleground is Seattle, where a movement to raise the minimum wage -- at $9.32, already the highest in the country -- to $15, is seen as setting the tone for the nationwide discussion. The city's effort makes President Obama's push for increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 appear modest in comparison. As Washington guarantees the state's full minimum wage for servers, who would continue to make tips on top of it, the drive has pitted the lower middle class against the working class who serve them food.
"I operate heavy machinery and make that... how does a fry cook get that?" said Carole Holfeld, a 39-year-old forklift operator and single mother from Tacoma, Wash. Making $16 an hour at Mega Brands, where she's worked for seven years, she doesn't think waiters deserve to make more than she does. What if the minimum wage is raised to $15? "Zero tip," she said.
“Why would I tip someone making as much as me for doing their job? Nobody tips me for doing mine!”
"Anybody trying to have a family on minimum wage needs to have their head examined," said Jan Fogel, a 47-year-old part-time dog sitter and print broker in Seattle. Based on her experience working in a pizza parlor when she was 18, she believes jobs waiting tables are stepping stones to the adult world and don't deserve a $15 per hour rate, plus tips.
"This is the age of entitlement and a wake-up call is badly needed," she said.
Damned socialist councilwoman...getting people riled up and starting class warfare.
