ROC United + Michelle Williams Call for One Fair Wage in

New York
Release Comparative Report on Reducing Sexual Harassment in the
Restaurant Industry

Women make up 70% of the workforce, nearly 90% report sexual

harassment

New York, NY – Today, the Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC United) and
Time’s Up activist and actress, Michelle Williams, released a new report, Better Wages,
Better Tips: Restaurants Flourish with One Fair Wage, comparing states that pay
workers One Fair Wage (OFW) and those that don’t. The data show that raising the base
wage for restaurant workers is in fact good for business, and cuts sexual harassment in
half.

One Fair Wage is a national effort to bring New York in line with seven other states that
pay tipped workers their state’s general minimum wage on top of their tips. In New York,
tipped food service workers make a subminimum wage ranging from $7.50 - $8.65,
relying on tips to bring them up to the state’s general minimum wage, which ranges from
$10.40 - $13.00, depending on the region. One Fair Wage states have more robust wages,
sales, establishment, and employment growth than their counterparts, and workers report
significantly lower rates of harassment.

“The current broken two-tiered wage structure in New York puts women restaurant
workers at the mercy of their customers and co-workers,” said Saru Jayaraman,
President and Co-Founder of ROC United, and author of Behind the Kitchen Door:
The People Who Make and Serve Your Food. “With just a small change in policy,
Governor Cuomo can cut sexual harassment in half for a majority female workforce,
without sacrificing economic growth. One fair wage is good for workers and good for
business.”

In his January State of the State address, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced
that the NYS Department of Labor will hold hearings to examine establishing One Fair
Wage.

“As someone who has worked for tips, I stand with restaurant workers for One Fair
Wage,” said Michelle Williams, actress and activist. “Sexual harassment is rampant in
the restaurant industry where one in every two Americans will work at some point in
their lives. The fact is, we can improve a woman's working experience right now, and in
whatever job she may have next, by paying her a decent wage. Time’s Up against men
with power over women– whether they're managers, coworkers, or customers.”

“When I was a server at a bar in upstate New York, I was sexually harassed verbally and
touched without consent by a customer, but when I reported it to the bartender, he told
me the man was harmless, a friend of the bar owner, and to deal with it. These actions
were not welcome, they continued beyond my personal boundaries, and the perpetrator
felt not only that he wasn’t doing anything wrong but rather that I owed him that
closeness even though our transaction was a professional one, not a personal
one. Women should not have to put up with sexual harassment to make rent or put food
on their own table, and that’s why I support One Fair Wage,” said," Nadine Morsch,
restaurant worker in Greece, NY.

“When I was a server in Salt Lake City, Utah making $2.13 an hour and working off of
tips, I had to deal with both income instability and pervasive sexual harassment, from
managers and coworkers alike. One time I was serving a family and a strange man came
up and slapped my butt, but I couldn’t react and risk losing my tips. I told my kitchen
coworkers, who said to take the compliment and enjoy it while I’m young. With One Fair
Wage in California, I can speak up against sexual harassment without fear of losing my
income,” Jenna Watanabe, former California restaurant worker and member leader
at ROC United.

“I worked for 10 years and it’s not easy to live on $2.13 an hour, relying on tips to make
up the difference, especially when you’re raising children. I’ve experienced sexual
harassment from customers, managers, kitchen-staff, and wait staff. I used to wear short
skirts to get better tips, and once I had a couple offer me extra money if I would show
them my tongue ring and lift up my skirt to reveal my thigh tattoo. It was really
degrading. We need One Fair Wage in New York because women working in the
industry shouldn’t have to sell our bodies just to make a decent wage at the end of the
day,” Taria Vines, former server in New York City.

“New York, like California, has a robust restaurant industry that’s fairly inelastic. Based
on the California experience, by every indicator, New York is primed to benefit from One
Fair Wage,” said Teofilo Reyes, National Research Director of ROC United.

Sexual Harrassment and Tipped Work

With nearly 13 million employees, the restaurant industry is the single-largest source of
sexual harassment charges filed by women with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), with a rate twice that of the general female workforce. According
to the EEOC since 2010 (and as of 6/2016) ‘employees have filed 162,872 charges
alleging harassment’ with employers paying out $698.7 million in penalties.

Seventy percent of restaurant servers are women, who experience a disproportionate

amount of sexual harassment as a result of the broken two-tiered wage system: nearly
90% report sexual harrassment from customers, managers, and co-workers. Relying on
tips to make a living wage forces workers to tolerate sexual harassment from customers
in return for “gratuities,” and they often receive additional pressure from management to
dress in a revealing way to attract larger tips.
Restaurant workers of all genders report harrassing behavior:

• 66% from restaurant management

• 78% from customers.
• 80% from co-workers (cooks and back of house staff)
• 37% of tipped workers are mothers
• 18% are single mothers

Many restaurant workers tolerate harrassment from customers so that customers pay tips,
as well as being harrassed from managers to get better tips by “dressing sexy” or who ask
for sexual favors in exchange for better shifts, and from colleagues (cooks and back-of-
house) staff who make the food that customers base their tips on. A shocking example: a
manager or colleague will grope a female server. If the server says no, managers will give
servers punitive shifts (morning shifts when there are fewer customers) or cooks will
purposely mess up food that will make customers unhappy.

NY vs. One Fair Wage States

• In New York over 17% of tipped workers of color live in poverty, twice the rate
of the overall workforce.
• OFW would reduce food stamp usage by 22% in New York.
• In OFW states poverty rates are 10% lower than in New York
• In OFW states full service restaurants opened and operated at a rate nearly double
that of New York, that only had an increase of 4.88%.
• In OFW states, the median wage for restaurant tipped workers is $11.44,
compared to $10.88 in New York.
• Tipped-wage workers in OFW states report making as much, or more, in tips than
tipped-wage workers in New York.
• The average tip rate in New York is 15.6%.
• Restaurant employment rates are equal or higher in OFW states. From 2011-2016,
full service restaurant employment (FSRE) grew by 20.4%, compared to 20.13%
in New York.
• New York, home to one of the largest restaurant industries in the country, had a
projected restaurant sales increase of 3.6%, a rate lower than the individual rates
of 6 of the 7 OFW states.
• The National Restaurant Asosciation predicts that the industry will add 1.6
million jobs over the next nine years, helping boost New York’s restaurant
workforce by 6.1%

Background

In his January State of the State address, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced
that the NYS Department of Labor will hold hearings to examine raising the
subminimum wage and establishing One Fair Wage in New York, saying:
"New York continues to be a national leader in fighting for justice for working men and
women, and by providing a platform for New Yorkers' concerns to be heard, we are
furthering our efforts to deliver fair wages for all. I am urging those impacted by this
proposal to register, attend a hearing, and help us move this state one step closer toward a
better, more just New York."

Hearings have been scheduled for March-June.