Tipping is a great way to send a signal to the restaurant staff who serve you that they’ve done a great job delivering a good dining experience. Most servers and bartenders rely on those tips to make up their earnings because more than likely their base pay is very low (aka the tipped minimum wage). They like it that way because it motivates them to offer you the best service they can. Servers and bartenders can earn anywhere from $18-$50 an hour! 

Left-leaning lawmakers in Congress and across a number of states want to get rid of tipped wages and move every tipped worker to a $15 minimum. That would CUT the earnings of so many tipped workers and it would lead to them losing out on work opportunities.

Simone Barron, a co-founder of Restaurant Workers of America and a founder of the Full-Service Workers Alliance of Seattle, has been in the service industry for 32 years and is an advocate for workers. She spoke to us recently about the tipped wage, how it works, and why lawmakers should not get rid of it.