The following is a letter (email) I wrote to my state representative today, asking that state minimum wages for waiters (waitstaff), be increased.
“It’s time to increase the minimum cash wage — paid to our local waiters and servers — above the $2.13/hr minimum wage in Texas.
This is an unlivable wage, especially in our district (Austin, Round Rock, & all of Central Texas) where living costs are increasing, dramatically faster than around the nation.
This $2.13 floor hasn’t moved in decades. If we want to keep waitstaff in our area employed while paying them a living wage, this wage needs to increase. Federal COVID assistance programs (such as through PPP) mainly benefited restaurant owners, not restaurant waitstaff.
Public benefits and customer tips are not consistent enough to keep waitstaff sufficiently paid, nor is it fair for restaurant owners to outsource their responsibility as employers to fairly pay workers.
As our district continues to grow, this higher base pay will be vital, to continue to attract workers to our food and service industry. Relative to the rest of Texas, this is even more important in our district, which relies on tourism and a large middle class.”
— Erwin Cuellar
Please copy what you need from this post to create your own letter, and urge your representatives and influencers to help our waitstaff community.
