Excerpt from the article:
Schenker says that after his years in the service industry, he has watched tipping evolve into a major part of his pay.
“If there is some means of tipping that’s available to you, that should signal to you that workers there aren’t being paid enough,” says Schenker. “Tipping is sort of an acknowledgment of that fact.”
To Schenker, customers who don’t tip are not understanding that businesses treat tips as a baked-in part of workers’ wages.
“They subsidize lower prices by paying employees less,” he says. “If you aren’t tipping, you are taking advantage of that labor.”
He was so close… Especially for someone who says himself does not make much money.
The entire history of tipping has roots in slavery. It’s also not as common most other places in the world. People in some countries would take great offense to being offered a tip, as it would suggest they’re needing extra help.
Tipping is not guaranteed income; yet “income,” is the entire purpose of having a job. If you go to work to earn $X as to be able to pay your bills and just have any standard of living at all, you need to have a certain minimum in order to continue meeting that standard.
We’ve passed too many business owner friendly laws in this country. The fact that “tipped employees” have a lower minimum wage is why business owners have been implementing payment systems that offer an option to tip. It’s the business owner NOT paying fair wages. They try to pass the responsibility off to customers.
Business owners that are doing this are taking advantage of everyone in the cycle. The only way to break the cycle is to break the system. Don’t tip unless you’re getting service where someone actually brings you something. Walking something up to the counter you’re standing at should not justify tipped wages.