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Photo: Will Waldron, Albany Times Union
Assemblyman John T. McDonald III, center, speaks during a rally and press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
lessAssemblyman John T. McDonald III, center, speaks during a rally and press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip
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Restaurant workers hold signs during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
lessRestaurant workers hold signs during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what
... more
Maryann Kelleher, right, and fellow Hattie's Chicken Shack server, Annette VanDeWater, center-right, listen during rally and press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
lessMaryann Kelleher, right, and fellow Hattie's Chicken Shack server, Annette VanDeWater, center-right, listen during rally and press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip
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Sen. Kathy Marchione speaks during a rally and press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
lessSen. Kathy Marchione speaks during a rally and press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount
... more
Assemblyman John T. McDonald III, right, and Sen. James Tedisco, left, take part in a rally and press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
lessAssemblyman John T. McDonald III, right, and Sen. James Tedisco, left, take part in a rally and press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18,
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Christine Elms, a sever and bartender at Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George, center, joins fellow restaurant workers and business owners during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
lessChristine Elms, a sever and bartender at Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George, center, joins fellow restaurant workers and business owners during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan
... more
Restaurant workers hold signs during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
lessRestaurant workers hold signs during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateÕs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what
... more
Georgraphical divide emerges over tipped minimum wage
ALBANY – An upstate-downstate divide emerged during a state hearing on Friday that explored eliminating the lower minimum wage for tipped workers.
This was the fifth of seven hearings scheduled by the state Department of Labor, which was tasked by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo with evaluating the possibility of ending the lower rate for tipped workers. The tipped minimum wage for food service employees is $7.50 an hour in upstate New York, while the general minimum wage for the region ranges from $10.40 to $11.75 for fast food workers.
Workers in service industries, like car washes and restaurants, are paid the lower minimum wage because they generally reach the regular minimum wage with their tips. When tipped workers don't reach that threshold, though, employers are supposed to make up the difference.
In a December interview when he called for the hearings, Cuomo argued that immigrants and women are disproportionately paid the lower rate and cited instances in New York City where car wash employees were failing to reach the general minimum wage with their tips.
"I don't think that's working well," Cuomo said of the tipped wage system.
The governor got push back on Friday from Jeannette Walter, of Gansevoort, who has more than three decades of experience in the restaurant business. "I don't need a raise," she told the four-person panel conducting the hearing.
Walter, who has worked at Panza's Restaurant on Saratoga Lake for the last 14 years, said the current system worked and she's worried that higher wage costs for restaurants would put them out of business.
She also took issue with the argument from the Cuomo administration that women in tipped industries are more likely to be subject to sexual harassment.
"Do I look like the damsel in distress? No I do not," Walter said.
The threat of sexual misconduct in the restaurant industry was outlined by Marisa Licandro, a server in the Hudson Valley, who advocated for a single minimum wage. Her story about being raped in culinary school was included in a Washington Post report on rape in the restaurant industry.
A review of wage disparity from a panel appointed by Cuomo recommended ending the lower rate to help close the gap in earnings between men and women.
John Buntich, operations director for multiple 99 Restaurant & Pub locations in the Capital Region, anticipated menu prices at casual restaurants would skyrocket and positions would be cut if the tipped wage was eliminated. When asked about phasing out the lower rate, he said it might work if it was over a period of more than five years.
In 2016, when the state began phasing in higher minimum wages, the tipped wage was increased 50 percent overnight to its current rate. The general minimum wage in upstate is scheduled to increase to $12.50 by 2021 and $15 for fast food workers by 2020.
Opponents of changing the tipped rate also suggested it would deter patrons from tipping, resulting in lower take-home pay for the servers who make more than the general minimum wage with their tips. State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon stressed at Friday's hearing that the law wouldn't ban tipping.
"We fully support tipping," she said, before accusing the federal government of wanting to take tips from workers.
Advocates of raising the lower rate, who were largely from the New York City area, highlighted the unpredictability of tips, suggested the cost of automated kiosks would prevent widespread use and maintained that well-run restaurants could accommodate the higher employee costs.
A bipartisan group of Capital Region state legislators, including Kathy Marchione, John McDonald, Jim Tedisco, Carrie Woerner, Mary Beth Walsh and Chris Tague attended a rally before the hearing opposing changes to the tipped wage.
The final two scheduled hearings are for June in the Bronx.
David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @Poozer87
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Georgraphical-divide-emerges-over-tipped-minimum-12925810.php
