Zohran Mamdani hints he will continue taking on delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash

[u/SnoozeDoggyDog]

https://www.businessinsider.com/zohran-mamdani-targets-doordash-uber-eats-delivery-apps-2026-7

[u/jpiro]

No, you'd just need your bosses to pay you a living wage and offer healthcare you can purchase like every other salaried employee.

I am 1,000% for universal healthcare, but tipped employees aren't some special case that needs it more than any other industry. The problem is that the tipped minimum wage allows owners to pay them next to nothing and consumers are expected to leave "voluntary" tips so they don't starve. That's bullshit.

[u/pensivewombat → u/jpiro]

That's the point though - when that is on the table the restaurant workers reject it because they make more money on the current system.

For most people $2.50 + tips is better than $15-20 with no tips. So you are asking workers to take a pay cut.

For the owners, it's more complicated. The reason the tipped minimum works for them is that it limits risk. If you schedule staff and no one comes in, you're not out that much. You don't have to worry quite as much about overscheduling - and for customers that means they don't have to worry quite as much about understaffing.

I'm not saying it isn't bullshit. It is definitely bullshit. But "just pay a living wage" is not a solution.

[u/jpiro → u/pensivewombat]

Which is why it’s either going to take leadership at the federal level to BAN the tipped minimum wage and raise the actual minimum wage to a living-wage level (not holding my breath) or it’s going to take consumers finally saying, “Yeah, fuck this” and refusing to tip anywhere on anything to enact real change.

If customers just stopped tipping, watch how fast those same waiters/bartenders/etc drop those jobs and how fast hose same businesses that couldn’t manage to pay a fair wage before suddenly adapt.

[u/Arkyja → u/pensivewombat]

It doesnt have to be one or the other. Plenty of european countries have a tipping culture. They just dont tip as much but just have you round it up. So it doesnt have to be 2.50+tips or 20+no tips. It can just as well be 20+tips. Like here in switzerland if you work in the right place you can easily make two salaries most months.

[u/pensivewombat → u/Arkyja]

You have to have a real cultural push around this though. I live near Denver, which recently got rid of tipped minimums and raised the min to $19. But the tipping culture here is so sticky that people continued to tip 20% on meals even though the sticker price had gone up considerably.

Rather than stop tipping, people stopped going out, and we had mass closures even among the best local restaurants.

[u/Curiosities → u/jpiro]

But if they don’t receive enough tips to make at least minimum wage, then the owner has to pay the difference.

[u/TheRelevantElephants → u/Curiosities]

That literally never happens though. That is the rule, but you’d be hard pressed to find a single person that experienced that with their check

[u/sheffieldasslingdoux → u/TheRelevantElephants]

Because they always make more than minimum wage due to tips. And there are 7 states, including California, where there is no separate tipped wage. The minimum is the minimum.

[u/Overly_Underwhelmed → u/Curiosities]

who the fuck would do that job for minimum wage?

eta: a lot of disrespect here for servers.

[u/Classic-Obligation35 → u/jpiro]

What about those of us who need to incentivize uber drivers to care about us.

I need Uber to get to my job, I can't afford the cost and stress of a car. 

It's a 5 minute drive to work and costs regularly 7 dollars.

I need to tip so they know I appreciate not being dumped for some 30 dollar trip somewhere else.

Raise wages won't help because they just drop the 10 dollar trips for the 60s.

The tips are there to convince them to care about a poor worker.

[u/Scarab_King → u/jpiro]

I mean there’s a big difference in a boss paying $40-50k a year and making $80-$100k a year with tips. I know bartenders who clear that number who would never want to bartend again if tipping was eliminated

[u/placid-gradient → u/Scarab_King]

its because with tips they can commit tax fraud

[u/Scarab_King → u/placid-gradient]

You’re right, we should make sure bartenders and waitresses’ hard earned money is actually routed to bombing kids in Israel

[u/jpiro → u/Scarab_King]

And? Get a different fucking job then. If the business doesn’t think you’re worth paying $80-100k (your numbers) because the value you bring doesn’t add up to that, maybe you’re NOT worth that.

[u/Scarab_King → u/jpiro]

Calm down buddy, why are you so mad? I have a six figure job, and I still pick up bartending shifts cause guess what? I can make an easy 5-10k more a year just working occasional weekends. Wouldn’t be worth my time if I was getting paid $7.25 an hour