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We have two options. Tip properly – or protest for better pay for waiters We have two options. Tip properly – or protest for better pay for waiters
(34 minutes later)
When Bob Dylan sang “You may be an ambassador to England or France, you may like to gamble, you might like to dance… But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody”, he may, in his Bob-like way, at the height of his Christian era, have been referring to God. But I have always interpreted these lyrics, in my own biased way, as being about work, because I feel that at some point everyone should have the experience of serving others. Not in the bureaucratic “I serve my community” way that many publics servants talk of, but by actually serving food and drink to them. When Bob Dylan sang “You may be an ambassador to England or France, you may like to gamble, you might like to dance … But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody”, he may, in his Bob-like way, at the height of his Christian era, have been referring to God. But I have always interpreted these lyrics, in my own biased way, as being about work, because I feel that at some point everyone should have the experience of serving others. Not in the bureaucratic “I serve my community” way that many publics servants talk of, but by actually serving food and drink to them.
Related: Pizza chain’s angry staff launch protests over slice taken off their hard-earned tipsRelated: Pizza chain’s angry staff launch protests over slice taken off their hard-earned tips
I divide the world into two type of people: those who are rude or dismissive towards waiters and bar staff, and those who, having done that job, know it is extremely hard and skilled work and that part of the deal is that you depend on tips to manage.I divide the world into two type of people: those who are rude or dismissive towards waiters and bar staff, and those who, having done that job, know it is extremely hard and skilled work and that part of the deal is that you depend on tips to manage.
This is clearly not a deal many English people understand or accept. When I waitressed in the US, most of my income was from tips: it is customary there to leave 15% on top of the bill for waiting staff. Certain restaurants I worked at in New Orleans could get away with paying no wages at all to waiters – the chefs were so good we would make a huge whack on tips from happy customers.This is clearly not a deal many English people understand or accept. When I waitressed in the US, most of my income was from tips: it is customary there to leave 15% on top of the bill for waiting staff. Certain restaurants I worked at in New Orleans could get away with paying no wages at all to waiters – the chefs were so good we would make a huge whack on tips from happy customers.
So my view has always been if you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip. Tight folk say it’s a grey area as they ostentatiously rummage for loose change. Really? The news that Pizza Express keeps a proportion of the tips that are paid on cards (8p out of every £1) means, as estimated by the union Unite, it piles an extra £1m onto its profits. Protests are being held today against Pizza Express, but other chains do the same thing too: Zizzi and Ask. Bella Italia, Café Rouge, Strada, Belgo and Giraffe take 10% of their staff’s tips. Wagamama, Pizza Hut and TGI Friday’s don’t, so this practice is not happening right across the board. So my view has always been if you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip. Tight folk say it’s a grey area as they ostentatiously rummage for loose change. Really? The news that Pizza Express keeps a proportion of the tips that are paid on cards (8p out of every £1) means, as estimated by the union Unite, it piles an extra £1m on to its profits. Protests are being held today against Pizza Express, but other chains do the same thing too: Zizzi and Ask. Bella Italia, Café Rouge, Strada, Belgo and Giraffe take 10% of their staff’s tips. Wagamama, Pizza Hut and TGI Friday’s don’t, so this practice is not happening right across the board.
Either we get over our embarrassment and leave decent amounts or we need to demand decent wages for those who serve usEither we get over our embarrassment and leave decent amounts or we need to demand decent wages for those who serve us
The ones that do take a portion of tips use a special word for this – “tronc” – and say the money they take is to cover the administration cost of divvying up money for the staff. To take 8p out of a quid may not sound much when you’re paying to eat a pizza that somehow saves Venice, while your badly behaved children throw dough balls at each other and the waiter runs around after them – but waiting staff can get paid only £6.50 an hour and depend on tips to live.The ones that do take a portion of tips use a special word for this – “tronc” – and say the money they take is to cover the administration cost of divvying up money for the staff. To take 8p out of a quid may not sound much when you’re paying to eat a pizza that somehow saves Venice, while your badly behaved children throw dough balls at each other and the waiter runs around after them – but waiting staff can get paid only £6.50 an hour and depend on tips to live.
Tipping may be what my teenager calls “socially awks”. Do you tip a cab driver who has ranted about migration? Do you tip hairdressers? Which other low-paid groups might be due a tip?Tipping may be what my teenager calls “socially awks”. Do you tip a cab driver who has ranted about migration? Do you tip hairdressers? Which other low-paid groups might be due a tip?
But what’s beyond question is that all waiting staff and bar staff depend on tips. Either we get over our embarrassment and leave decent amounts or, as a country, we need to join together to demand decent wages for those who serve us. It’s one or the other. I would also boycott any restaurant that is effectively stealing its staff’s tips. Is there anything more mean? You may as well go up to the tables and nick the desultory pound coins some customers leave after spending £100 on a meal.But what’s beyond question is that all waiting staff and bar staff depend on tips. Either we get over our embarrassment and leave decent amounts or, as a country, we need to join together to demand decent wages for those who serve us. It’s one or the other. I would also boycott any restaurant that is effectively stealing its staff’s tips. Is there anything more mean? You may as well go up to the tables and nick the desultory pound coins some customers leave after spending £100 on a meal.
Clearly, such people have never served somebody. Anybody. I suggest they try it some time and then they would understand that those who serve us decently deserve decent wages.Clearly, such people have never served somebody. Anybody. I suggest they try it some time and then they would understand that those who serve us decently deserve decent wages.