UNITED STATES
Reuters
February 13, 2018
By Lisa Baertlein
Restaurant workers in seven U.S. cities on Tuesday lobbied state and local lawmakers to combat sexual harassment in the industry by shifting from the $2.13 federal minimum wage for tipped employees to a higher “fair” wage.
Some 70 percent of workers who receive tips in addition to their hourly pay in the United States are women.
The combination of low hourly pay and dependence on customer gratuities makes them particularly vulnerable to harassment from customers and colleagues, said Saru Jayaraman, president of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC) which advocates for better working conditions.
Women workers earning their state’s full minimum wage before tips reported half the rate of sexual harassment as women in the states that pay $2.13 per hour, according to a study from ROC, which has called on lawmakers to follow the lead of California, Washington, Nevada and four other states that pay the more generous “fair” wage.
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